


Burning Feathers

by Aerle



Series: Tumblr prompts [6]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Ficlet Collection, M/M, ratings vary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2018-04-01 12:28:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 45
Words: 32,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4019764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aerle/pseuds/Aerle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Marco/Ace ficlets, with requests from Tumblr. The ratings vary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> MarcoAce, requested by xpiester333x. Vampire!AU
> 
> Written for day 5 of the MarcoAce week 2014 on Tumblr with the theme 'Dancing'

Marco looked approvingly to his students. They were really making progress and they had to, if they wanted to participate in the dance competition. The song ended, and Marco clapped his hands. “Alright, that’s enough for today. Well done, everyone.”

One by one, his students left the hall, some staying behind to chat with each other or ask their teacher questions. Marco had been an instructor for years now, but it always warmed his heart to see them dance so passionately at the end of the year. He couldn’t help but feel proud.

As the last of his students left the dance hall, he eyed the clock. It was midnight already, but he wasn’t even that tired yet. Maybe he should do some stretching or something.

His musings were cut short when someone knocked on the door. Turning around, he saw a pale young man standing, freckles covering his face.

“May I help you?” Marco asked.

“Are you a dance instructor?” the man – well, he was barely more than a boy – asked.

“I am, but you are a little too late. Class is over. Although,” Marco said frowning, “it would be best to start in a beginner’s class. I teach those on Wednesday.”

“That’s too bad,” the freckled man sighed. “I need to learn how to dance fast. You wouldn’t happen to give,” he licked his lips while looking Marco up and down, “private lessons?”

Marco thought about that for a moment. He wasn’t tired yet, so why the hell not? Sure, the other man was a little odd, and the cape was a bit much, but who was he to judge someone’s fashion sense? He scratched at the tuft of blond hair on his head. “Alright. I’m Marco, by the way.”

“Ace.” The stranger flashed him a blinding smile.

“So Ace,” Marco said when Ace approached him, reminding him a little of a predator sneaking up on his prey. Maybe he was a little tired. “Why the hurry to learn how to dance?”

“I hear it’s a great way to seduce my vict– partners,” Ace corrected himself. “And I’d be close to their neck– them.” He let out a laugh when suddenly lightning lit up the room.

Marco looked worriedly out of the window. “That’s odd. It’s not even raining.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

When Marco turned around, Ace was standing in his personal space, showing his pearly white teeth and surprisingly sharp canines. “Let’s dance.”

Marco shrugged. “Okay.”

While he said it, Ace flinched back, covering his nose with his hand. “Did you eat garlic?”

“Maybe yesterday.” Marco breathed onto his hand and smelled. “Is it that bad?”

When Ace nodded, Marco reached for his bag, taking out some gum and wondering how many of his students had been bothered by it. After having popped the piece into his mouth, he took his position again in front of Ace. “Better?”

When Ace nodded, he took his hand, taking the female position so that the other could lead. “Alright, we’ll start with the Viennese Waltz. Step aside and then turn clockwise.”

Ace did as he was told, and Marco wondered why the man thought he would need dance lessons. He was a natural. After a few minutes, Marco put on some music and Ace twirled him around effortlessly. When the music stopped, he even ended by dipping Marco.

Marco laughed. “Well done.” He turned his head to look at the wall clad with large mirrors to see how odd this would look. He froze in the arms of his dance partner.

Because, looking in the mirror, it seemed like he was floating in the air in a very odd position. He looked up, but Ace was there, grinning down at him. Marco’s eyes widened.

Ace pulled him up, holding Marco flush against him. “Whoops, busted,” he said with a smirk. His canines grew until they were nothing short of fangs, and he licked his lips while looking at Marco’s exposed neck. “Shall we get to business then?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MarcoAce, Marco counts Ace’s freckles to fall asleep, requested by MyLadyDay

Having a boyfriend with narcolepsy could be annoying. It wasn’t unusual for a date night to be cut short because Ace face planted in his plate, snoring softly. It could be frustrating if Ace fell asleep during sex. It was more rare, Marco made sure of that, but it had occurred once or twice.

But the narcolepsy was downright aggravating when Ace was snoring peacefully, and Marco was stuck lying in bed with insomnia. He had tried everything. He had read for a while, untangled himself from Ace’s grip and made warm milk with honey, he had watched TV, tried to get some work done, but nothing. And here Ace was still sleeping like a baby. If he was awake they could do some things to tire Marco out, but he wasn’t mean enough to disturb Ace. Sighing, he caressed the freckled cheeks he loved so much. Wait…

Smiling lightly, Marco made himself comfortable, opting to count something he actually found interesting (instead of sheep) – Ace’s freckles. Before he had reached ten, he had finally fallen asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Things you said... when you were crying", requested by anon

Marco hadn’t seen Ace in a few days. He hadn’t realised it at first, but now that he thought about it, something was missing. There was no one talking to him nineteen to the dozen about things that had happened at school or with his friends, or flashing bright smiles at him. Marco liked living alone after growing up with so many siblings, but ever since he met Ace two years ago, he realised it could get lonely. He had to admit that Ace brightened up his day. Being a firefighter, with several fires this week, Marco had been busy, but Ace hadn’t even stopped by at the fire station, even if he loved doing that.

Sighing, Marco wondered if he was being silly. Ace was a lot younger than he was, and many people disapproved of their friendship, even if nothing weird was going on. But of course that was to be expected when a grown man hang out with a fourteen year old. Perhaps Ace had realised that as well and was that the reason he stayed away – even if Marco doubted that, it wasn’t like Ace was very rational, or that he cared what other people thought of them.

In any case, Marco had come to see Ace as one of his siblings. Ace had come over to Pops’ house often enough, and was very close with Haruta, who was his age.

Marco decided that the nagging feeling that something was wrong was just him being paranoid. Ace probably had other things on his mind right now than to visit Marco. Instead, Marco opened the door to check the mailbox for mail.

However, he had barely opened the lid of the mailbox when he saw a small figure sitting, huddled up against the wall. Ace had his knees brought up to his face, his arms wrapped around them.

Curiously, but mostly worriedly, Marco knelt down next to him, softly placing his hand on Ace’s arm. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Ace didn’t look up, but fervently shook his head.

Marco realised this was going to take a while and sat down next to Ace against the wall. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Finally, Ace looked up, and Marco was startled when he saw his bloodshot eyes. Ace had been crying, and seeing how his bottom lip trembled, he was about to start again. His big brother instinct kicking in, Marco wrapped his arms around Ace’s small frame and pulled him close.

Ace let him hold him for a moment, before he pulled back. “I can’t hang out with you anymore,” he said, his voice hoarsely.

“How come?” Marco asked curiously.

Ace sniffled. “Gramps’s getting a promotion, and we’re gonna move away!” He fell back in Marco’s arms again.

Musing, Marco caressed Ace’s hair. “Where are you moving to?”

“Sabaody.” Ace sniffled again, and Marco wondered if he should offer him a handkerchief.

Marco hummed. “That’s quite a drive, but it doesn’t mean we’ll never see each other again, right? You can always go to Pops’ house to play with Haruta. It’ll be farther, but…”

Ace looked up again, chewing on his lip nervously. “Still, we won’t see each other as often, and there’s something I need to tell you… I…” His cheeks coloured bright red and he looked to the ground. “I really like you!”

Marco stayed silent for a moment. He had had a feeling this would be coming, but hoped he was wrong. Ace hadn’t exactly been subtle, even if he had tried to hide his feelings. Now Marco had to let him down gently.

“Ace,” he started.

Ace was still looking at the same spot on the ground and didn’t respond.

“I like you too, Ace, but not like that. You’re like a little brother to me–” Marco stopped talking when Ace looked up, fire burning in his eyes.

“But you _like_ me! I’m not your brother! Please!” Ace all but begged.

“I’m twice your age, Ace. Plus, you’re a minor.”

“I don’t care how old you are!” Ace protested, ignoring Marco’s second argument. “I really like you.”

Marco sighed. “You’re too young to know what that means. You just idolise me.”

“No, I don’t!” Ace jumped to his feet. “I’m not a stupid kid!”

“Maybe not stupid, but you are a kid.”

Ace’s hands clenched into fists, and tears started to stream down his face, which he brusquely started to wipe away. “I thought you were different! You never treated me like a kid; you made me feel like your equal. But you’re just like everyone else, saying I’m too young for everything. You were my hero!”

Marco closed his eyes. Ace’s words hurt, even if they contradicted each other. But it only proved how young he indeed was, if he couldn’t see things rationally.

“Ace,” Marco tried again. He hated seeing Ace like this, and he hated what he feared would happen if he didn’t manage to calm Ace down.

Which was exactly what happened.

“I hate you! I’m glad we’re moving so I’ll never have to see your stupid face again!” Ace turned around and ran away, leaving Marco alone behind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I wish you would write a fic... where marco loves the taste of pineapples in the morning", requested by anon
> 
> Slightly NSFW

Ace woke up from the sound of someone rummaging through cabinets in the kitchen downstairs. He groaned and turned round again. This was not how he had imagined waking up after sleeping over at Marco’s house for the first time. To be honest, he had hoped that Marco would be still lying next to him, and perhaps a repetition of last night…

Another thump, and Ace sat upright in bed, rubbing his eyes. What the hell was Marco up to this early? Yawning, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and hoisted himself up. Before leaving the room, he remembered to put on boxers, and he descended the stairs.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked once he had arrived in the kitchen. It came out more like a whine than he had intended.

Marco turned around. “Sorry, did I wake you? I’m just looking for something.”

“What are you looking for?”

Marco rose from the crouching position he was sitting in to look into the cabinet underneath the sink, and hummed. “I… like to eat pineapple for breakfast and I swear I bought one. I just can’t seem to find it anywhere.”

Ace paled. “Oh, er… I didn’t know it would be your breakfast.”

Marco looked up.

Ace scratched the back of his head. “I woke up early and I was hungry so… I may have eaten it?” He grinned sheepishly.

Marco sighed. “Great. And since it’s Sunday morning, the stores are closed too, so I don’t have breakfast.”

“I’m sorry.” Ace bowed deeply. He felt bad.

Suddenly, a mischievous smirk appeared on Marco’s face, and he let himself sink onto his knees before Ace, his hands on the waistband of Ace’s boxers. “Then I guess we’ll just have to find out if it’s true what they say~”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the MarcoAce week 2015 day 2 with the theme "Tattoo".
> 
> Thanks to MyLadyDay for pointing out some things about tattoos.

"Marco! You're such a meanie! Let me see!" Ace pounded with his fists on the door of Marco's bedroom.

Inside his room, Marco chuckled. Ace was right, he was a little mean. Ever since he had announced he would get a tattoo of their family's crest, his younger siblings had been excited, especially Ace, who had even declared immediately he wanted one too. Marco was five and a half years older than Ace, and having just turned eighteen, it was finally legal for Marco to have a tattoo.

Pops was just as excited as the others were, but still he hadn't been willing to give permission for a tattoo when his children were underage. "Once you turn eighteen, it's your body and you can do with it what you want. Until then, it's my responsibility," he had said.

Marco had waited until all his underage siblings had gone to camp during the summer to place the tattoo. Because the tattoo was large and placed on his chest, he had had to make several appointments. Not only because of the pain, but Marco had to regulate his breathing while the tattoo artist was at work, something which he couldn't keep up for a long amount of time. So the two weeks the house was nearly empty with all his younger siblings at camp had been the perfect time.

And now Ace was back and had found out.

"Alright, alright." Marco rose from his bed and opened the door for Ace, who all but tumbled inside. "How about you help me take off the foil," he pointed at the protective foil stuck to his chest, "and you'll be the first to see it finished."

The pout disappeared from Ace's face, and he beamed up at Marco.

Marco smiled back. He was crazy about his little brother, and especially when he laughed.

Marco sat down on the bed, and Ace started to peel off the foil, the tip of his tongue sticking out of his mouth in concentration.

"Careful," Marco warned redundantly.

Finally, the foil was peeled off in its entirety, and Ace took a step back to admire the piece of art that now decorated Marco's chest in awe. It was a simple design, a blue cross and a crescent shape through it, pointing up.

Ace reached out his hand, but stopped before he touched Marco and looked at him questioningly. Marco nodded, and, carefully, Ace touched the coloured skin.

"It's amazing," he breathed. "Did it hurt?"

Marco smiled and pulled his little brother close. "Like hell. Do you still want one?"

Ace nodded vehemently. "Just, maybe not on my chest," he added in afterthought.

"Do you want the same as me then?"

"No. I'll show you!" Ace walked to Marco's desk and hopped onto the desk chair. He pulled a piece of paper towards him and started to draw.

For a while, it stayed silent in the room, the scratching if Ace pencil on paper the only sound to be heard. Marco realised this would take a while, and picked up a book.

Finally, Ace turned around and showed his drawing proudly. "This is what I want."

Marco took the paper and studied it closely. Ace had drawn a cross of purple bones, with in front of it an equally purple, simple, grinning skull with their Pops' trademark moustache. "That looks great," he praised Ace. "Where would you like to have it?"

Ace grinned again. "On my back!"

* * *

Five and a half years later, a few weeks after Ace's birthday, Ace stopped by Marco's place. Marco was still attending university, and Ace would start after the summer.

"Remember this?" Ace asked Marco, and handed him a piece of crumpled, folded up paper.

Curiously, Marco folded it open and started to laugh when he recognised the skull and crossbones. "You still have this?"

"I told you it would be my tattoo," Ace said with glistering eyes. "Okay, the tattoo artist had to tidy it up a bit, but…" He turned around and let his shirt slide off his back.

Marco gaped in awe as the tattoo was revealed, just as big as his own and maybe even bigger. He reached out, just as Ace had done five and a half years before, and stopped before he touched the skin. When Ace nodded in permission, Marco followed the outline of the tattoo with his finger.

Ace looked over his shoulder, grinning. "You were right, though," he said. "It hurt like hell!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: MarcoAce + secret admirer, requested by anon
> 
> Three sentence fic

“Just go up to him, finally!” Sabo said, obviously fed up with Ace’s fussing and whining as soon as they had discovered that the blond man Ace had been admiring from afar for a while now was sitting in the same bar, and Ace regretted ever telling his brothers about his silly crush.

“I wouldn’t know what to say,” he protested, which was true, he was never someone just to step up to someone and chat them up, which was part of the reason why he hadn’t made a move with this guy yet, even if he seemed nice and approachable, Ace still wouldn’t know what to say.

“I’ll help you,” Sabo said, picking up a pen while taking Ace’s hand, and somehow, Ace had a bad feeling about this, especially when Luffy whispered something in Sabo’s ear and Sabo started writing eagerly.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: cheesy pickup lines, requested by lunarshores
> 
> Three-sentence fic
> 
> (Sequel to the previous chapter)

“If you were a tropical fruit, you'd be a Fine-apple!” the stranger said to Marco with what seemed feigned confidence, before looking at the smudged writing on his hand, “Er, that was stupid, lemme try this one... er... I must be lost, because I found your eyes... No, that can’t be right...”

Marco eyed Izo, who sat next to him and seemed to have a hard time not to explode in laughter, and Marco couldn’t say he wasn’t amused himself as the stranger obviously had no clue what he was doing, making his cheesy pickup lines rather endearing, so Marco decided to help the man, who was quite handsome and cute with his cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

He leaned in and said smoothly, “Nice to meet you, I'm Marco and you are... gorgeous!”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Marco/Ace + Arthurian Literature, requested by ImperialMint
> 
> Three sentence fic

Marco could feel his chest swell with pride when his young protégé stepped up to the king to be knighted, even though they had definitely gotten off on the wrong foot when Ace came barging in the courtroom still on his horse and in full armour – which, to be honest, had been the most rusty piece of crap Marco had ever seen – and had threatened to take the king’s head.

Marco had seen potential in him, though, and fortunately, King Edward hadn’t been hard to convince – rather, he had had the same idea – though Ace had been the tough one, because he had done everything in his power to test Marco’s patience, but in the end Ace had given up and realised he could become one of the Knights of the Round Table, alongside Marco and King Edward.

And here he was, standing proudly in new armour as the king buckled Ace’s new sword around his waist, declaring him one of his knights in presence of all the courtiers, and all Ace could do was smile, beaming with pride, but suddenly, he looked at Marco, and was his smile meant just for him, making Marco thank his lucky stars that he hadn’t turned his back on Ace.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Marco/Ace, Ace finds Marco’s lost pet. This leads to them meeting, requested by sunshinestroughtheclouds

Mentally, Ace was checking to see if he had bought everything from his shopping list. There was meat, vegetables, meat, milk, fruit, meat… Perhaps he shouldn’t have taken Luffy’s suggestions. Not that Ace was opposed to meat, though.

As he hoisted the paper bag higher on his arm, he suddenly heard a soft whine of a dog in pain. It appeared to be coming from the alley he was passing. Ace squinted, but it was too dark to see. Carefully, he stepped into the alley.

On the ground, a white dog was lying. Well, Ace supposed he was white, because right now he was dark with mud and what Ace feared was blood. It also almost appeared as if the dog had a moustache. The animal looked up when it saw Ace and growled.

“Hi there,” Ace said softly. “It’s okay, I can help.” Cautiously, he stepped closer. “Are you in pain? You are, aren’t you?” He could see the dog wasn’t leaning on one of his hind legs.

The dog let out another growl in warning.

Ace reached into his grocery bag and tore open a packing of meat, holding it out to the dog slowly. The dog sniffed at it and started to eat. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?” Ace said softly.

The animal had devoured the meat in no time and licked at Ace’s hand when he reached out. Ace petted him, and the dog let him.

Ace reached for the leg that appeared to be painful, talking in a soothing tone when the dog growled again. “It’s okay. I can help.” There was a nasty cut in the leg. Ace wondered if the dog had been fighting.

Well, it was a good thing he had a brother studying to be a vet.

“Can you walk?” he asked the dog. “You’re a bit big to carry.” He tore open another package of meat and fed a bit to the dog. “Come, I’ll make sure you’ll get better.”

Much to his joy, the dog followed him, though he limped a little.

Ace’s home was fortunately close by. Luffy almost threw himself on the dog in excitement, but stopped when Ace said it was hurt. They first cleaned the dog in the shower, causing the whole bathroom to become wet, and afterwards, Sabo looked at the cut.

“It’s not as bad as it appeared at first,” he said in relief. “I’ll put a bandage on it.”

“Do you think this is someone’s dog?” Ace asked.

“I’d think so. He has a collar.” Sabo looked at the label. “His name is Stefan. There’s no address, though.”

“Well, they can’t be very good owners, now can they?” Ace huffed as he scratched Stefan behind his ear.

“You don’t know that. He seems to be well fed. Maybe he ran off chasing a cat or something,” Sabo suggested, “and then got hurt.”

Ace huffed again.

“Can we keep him?” Luffy asked in a whiney voice. “Please? He’s so cool! He has a moustache.”

“First we should try to find the owners,” Sabo said strictly.

Both Ace and Luffy pouted.

* * *

Over the next two days, Ace and Luffy hang up flyers to announce that they had found a dog named Stefan, though they didn’t put a photo up. Ace caught Luffy hanging them where no one would see them and reprimanded him, but he could understand it. Stefan was a great dog. He was well trained and affectionate. Ace couldn’t say he would mind if the owner never showed up.

Unfortunately, someone called his number, which was printed on the flyer.

“I saw your flyer. You’ve found my dog?” The man on the other end of the line sounded relieved.

Ace ignored the fact that he had a very nice voice. “I don’t know,” he said haughtily. “We found _a_ dog. How do I know it’s yours?”

The man hummed. “Well, he’s big, about the size of a small pony, and white. Plus, he looks like he has a moustache.”

Ace pouted. That sounded a bit too accurate. “Well, I guess he’s yours then.” He didn’t even try to hide his disappointment. “You can pick him up tonight if you want.” He gave the man his address.

* * *

That evening, they were all sitting on the couch pouting, even Sabo. They had all grown attached to Stefan. Stefan seemed to sense the mood and tried to cheer them up by licking their faces.

Way too soon for Ace’s taste, the doorbell rang.

“Let’s pretend we’re not home!” Luffy said as he wrapped his arms around Stefan possessively.

“He’s not ours, Lu,” Sabo said with a sigh.

“But…” Luffy’s bottom lip started to quiver.

The doorbell rang again.

“I’ll get it,” Ace said sighing, and with his shoulders slumped, he opened the door.

On the doorstep, a gorgeous man was standing, smiling as he saw Ace. “Hi, I’m here for Stefan.”

Before Ace could reply, Stefan bolted into the hallway and jumped the man, uncaring that he trampled Ace along the way, and started licking the stranger’s face. The man was obviously used to be jumped like that, because he barely staggered as he braced himself.

“Good boy,” he said laughing. “Are you okay, though?” he asked Ace worriedly, as Ace scrambled to his feet.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I guess there’s really no doubt you’re his owner,” he muttered.

“Thank you for taking care of him,” the stranger said with a smile. “I’m Marco.” He held out his hand.

“Ace. Would you like to come in for a bit? My brothers grown attached to Stefan, so they’d like to say goodbye,” he suggested.

Marco smiled again, causing Ace’s heart to flutter somehow. “Of course.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the previous chapter for MyLadyDay, who wanted to know what happened to Stefan, and for Lunarshores, who wanted purple potatoes.

Marco hadn’t expected his host to be so attractive, but he couldn’t say he minded. When Ace had invited him in, he was eager to accept, even though the invitation wasn’t for the reasons he might wish. Though, he was happy Ace and his apparent brothers seemed to care about Stefan.

Also, following Ace inside gave him a pleasant view.

Ace’s brothers were introduced as Sabo, who was apparently studying to become a vet, and Luffy.

“You can’t have him!” Luffy called in greeting, wrapping his arms around Stefan’s neck possessively. Stefan allowed him. “Finders keepers!”

“It doesn’t work like that, Lu,” Ace said with a sigh.

“Why not? Stefan ran off, so he obviously doesn’t want to be with him,” Luffy said pouting.

“He didn’t run off, though.” Marco retrieved an article from the paper from his jacket. “There’s someone stealing dogs.”

“Stealing dogs?” Sabo asked confusedly and took the article from Marco. “Did you see him being taken?”

“I saw a car drive off. I didn’t catch the licence plate, though.” Marco sighed and ruffled Stefan behind his ears. “I thought I lost him.”

“ _We_ didn’t take him!” Ace said defensively. “I found him in an alley. He looked as if he had fought, and he had a cut in his leg.”

Marco smiled. “I didn’t think you would hang up flyers if you did.”

“We could have,” Sabo said musing.

“Sabo!” Ace exclaimed.

Sabo shrugged. “I’m just saying. We could have kidnapped… er, dognapped him for reward money. I’m not saying we _did_.”

Ace rolled his eyes and turned to Marco. “We didn’t take him. None of us even has a car. And we didn’t do it for a reward either.”

“We wouldn’t mind if you gave us one though,” Sabo added.

“I like meat,” Luffy said with a grin.

“Guys, will you just shut up!” Ace hissed. He was obviously embarrassed. He then turned to Marco again. “Don’t mind them. Just… It would be nice if we could see Stefan again sometime.”

Marco smiled. “Of course. I don’t live that far from here. If Stefan was abducted, he must have fought his kidnapper off and escaped before they got far. Where did you find him?”

“In an alley near the supermarket,” Ace said.

“Well, I can’t thank you enough for bringing him back.” Marco smiled again.

“How about you stay for dinner,” Sabo suddenly suggested. “Then Stefan can stay a little longer. We’re having purple potatoes.”

“And meat,” Luffy said with glistening eyes.

“You’re not vegetarian, are you?” Ace added worriedly.

Apparently, it was already decided that he would have dinner with them. Not that he had been planning to refuse, though. He’d love to get to know Ace better.

However, Stefan seemed to have other plans as he whined and pulled at Marco’s sleeve with his teeth.

“It seems that he wants to go outside,” Marco said.

“Why don’t you go with him, Ace?” Sabo suggested.

Marco was pleased to see that Ace flushed slightly.

“Yeah! Make sure he doesn’t run off with Stefan!” Luffy added.

“It’s his dog, he can run wherever he wants,” Ace muttered.

“I wouldn’t mind the company,” Marco said with a smile.

Ace didn’t reply, but still got his coat, and Marco followed him outside.

They walked in silence as Stefan ran excitedly ahead of them.

“So, you really think there’s someone stealing dogs?” Ace asked eventually.

Marco shrugged. “All I know is what it said in the paper. Stefan is not the type of dog to just run off… I did see a car speed away, but it could have just been a coincidence. I’m reluctant to let him out of my sight again, though. I’m still not sure what to do when I go to work tomorrow.”

“We could watch him,” Ace blurted out, seemingly surprising himself, but he wasn’t going to back out. “Lu isn’t working at the moment. You can’t trust him with much, but dogs are an exception. And Sabo and I are usually home before dinner.” He flushed slightly. “I mean, if you want to.”

Marco smiled at him again. “I’m sure Stefan would be happy to see you more often.”

And Stefan wasn’t the only one.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No prompts used

“Marco?”

Marco looked up from comparing pineapples in the supermarket and turned around when he heard his name. Behind him, a man was standing, with dark hair and a freckled face.

Marco smirked. It only took him a second to recognise him. “You haven’t changed a bit, Ace.”

“I should hope I have.” Ace pouted slightly, making him look even more like the boy Marco remembered, but then he smiled again. “But look at you! How long has it been?”

“About nine years, I guess.” Marco was twenty-seven now, and he had been eighteen when he left secondary school. Ace was two years younger than him.

“Wow,” Ace said with a sigh, “time really flies, huh? You look great, though.”

Marco smiled. “So do you.” Ace had obviously started working out, because he was more muscular than Marco remembered.

“Would you have time to have a cup of coffee, to catch up?” Ace looked at Marco’s hands. “When you’re done with your pineapples, of course.” A shit-eating grin appeared on his face. “Do you remember, pineapple boy?”

“Don’t remind me,” Marco growled, as he put one of the fruits back. In secondary school, there had been this stupid joke that his hair looked like a pineapple. Which was ridiculous.

“Don’t be like that. Come on, one cup,” Ace insisted.

Marco smiled. “Alright.” He followed Ace to the register and started unloading his groceries.

In secondary school, he and Ace had been good friends, though their contact faded after Marco graduated. He was busy with his studies, and time flew by before he knew it. Now that he had his life a bit in order, he wondered sometimes about what happened to his old friends. Some, he had managed to stay in touch with, like Thatch and Izo, but Ace had disappeared completely from his life. He regretted letting him get away. He had always adored Ace.

So he was actually glad about this coincidence, and that Ace had invited him for coffee. Ace had never been the shy type, though.

With their groceries, they made their way to the nearest coffeehouse, while Ace told stories from what happened in secondary school after Marco’s graduation, and then moved on to what he had done after secondary school. Marco, in turn, told about his life.

They were already working on their third cup of coffee when they ran out of stories to tell. Marco realised how much he had missed Ace, his enthusiasm and his temper, and he smiled softly.

Ace poured a ridiculous amount of sugar in his coffee, and stirring, he leaned on his hand as he smiled at Marco. “You know, I had a major crush on you in school.”

“I kinda did know,” Marco said, smiling.

Ace’s eyes widened slightly. “Really? Well, that’s embarrassing.”

“You shouldn’t be embarrassed,” Marco said. “I thought it was adorable.”

Ace puffed his cheeks and muttered something under his breath about not being cute.

Marco laughed and tapped his hand playfully.

“I was gonna confess to you,” Ace continued with a sigh. “When you were about to graduate. But then you suddenly had that girlfriend. What’s her name?”

“Whitey.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Ace leaned with his head on his hand.

“I felt bad about it, but it just sorta happened,” Marco explained. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.” He placed a hand on Ace’s arm.

Ace shook his head with a smile. “It’s okay. I never expected you to return my feelings. I just… wanted you to know. I always regretted not telling you. Though I had no idea you already knew.”

“I wouldn’t have returned them… back then,” Marco said, and took a sip from his coffee as he waited for the information to sink in.

“Back then?” Ace’s eyes widened again. “You mean you’re…?”

Marco smirked. “I discovered quite a lot about myself during my studies.”

“O-oh.” Ace fell silent for a bit. “Are you seeing anyone, then?”

Marco shook his head. “Not right now. You?”

“Me neither.”

A silence fell as they both drank from their coffee.

Finally, Ace put down his cup. “Would it be totally inappropriate if I asked you out?”

Marco hummed as he pretended to think. “Kinda. But is that gonna stop you?”

The smirk on Ace’s face almost split his face in half.

* * *

Marco ended up walking Ace home, after spending the rest of the day together. It turned out he actually lived quite close to Marco.

At the door, Marco asked, “Can I kiss you?”

Ace smirked. “You could do that since secondary school~”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Marco/Ace - scent, requested by ImperialMint
> 
> Three sentence fic

Ace breathed in the delicious scent of food that came wafting his way from the other end of the train compartment and clutched at his stomach as it rumbled, as if Ace needed another reminder that he was hungry and that he had lost his wallet so he couldn’t but anything, on top of having to travel another hour before he was home. 

Not able to contain himself any longer, Ace crept closer to where the scent came from, uncaring that he looked kinda creepy right now - the compartment was almost empty at this time of night anyway - and almost drooled upon the owner of the food’s head when he leaned over the chair to see what he dealt with - or rather, to see if he was right in smelling fries. 

The man who was eating suddenly turned around, looking surpised, and Ace smiled sheepisly at him, still towering over him as he sat on his knees on the chair against the other’s facing the other way, but when his stomach rumbled again, the stranger smiled and offered him the bag of fries, and Ace knew right away it was true love.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Marco/Ace, have to kiss to avoid bad guys like in spy movies, requested by Lunarshores
> 
> Three sentence fic

“We’re being followed,” Marco said in a hushed voice and immediately added, “so don’t look,” when Ace was about to look over his shoulder, and pulled Ace by his wrist into an alley as he made for the crowded mall. 

He managed to lose their pursuers in the mass long enough to snatch a hat from a random store and, placing it on his head, push Ace against the wall of a building as he leaned in to kiss him, an action which Ace didn’t seem to have expected, but also didn’t seem to mind at all when he deepened the kiss that had supposed to be fake. 

“I think they’re gone,” Marco said panting when they finally parted for air, but Ace just shrugged and pulled his partner - now in every sense of the word - close again.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MyLadyDay requested a MarcoAce three sentence fic based on the painting "Autoritratto" by Stefano di Stasio (1978)
> 
> Three sentence fic
> 
> Warning: NSFW (the painting)

Marco sighed in relief when Ace finally signalled he was done with the painting, after posing with the piano for hours in a row - though, fortunately, he was sitting down - and rose to see the result of his patience, a masterpiece no doubt, because Ace was a respected painter, though he had warned Marco that he had taken some liberties.

Ace blocked the piece for the most part, so that Marco couldn’t see the main subject, but he could see the background with some people and a second piano, and on the other side of a pillar there was a woman and some kind of ruin, he supposed, this was obviously the part where Ace had taken some liberties, and after he had admired the background, Ace grinned a bit and said, “I was inspired by last night,” before he finally moved aside. 

Marco blinked as he watched the figure he had been posing for for hours, yet Ace had chosen to paint the few minutes last night when Marco had sat behind the piano with his pants open and his dick out, but that wasn’t what bothered him as he said with a sigh, “Why does it have to be blue?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you wondering why Marco was sitting with his dick out in front of the piano in the previous chapter, MyLadyDay‘s explanation.
> 
> Three sentence fic
> 
> Warning: sexual content

Marco had his eyes closed, his forehead beaded with sweat as he tried to concentrate on his fingers, yet it was an entirely different finger that demanded his attention as Ace sucked a little harder, trying to distract him from the Moonlight Sonata that he was currently playing on the piano, his legs spread as Ace kneeled in front of him.

Why this had seemed like a good idea, Marco couldn’t remember, aside from the fact that he was currently receiving a blowjob from Ace, but rehearsing for his performance while receiving said blowjob was very hard - no pun intended - and Marco had to think about every key he had to touch, so the piece went very slow, until Ace sucked particularly hard again, and he missed a key.

Ace pulled back with a frown and said, reprimanding, “Stop thinking, that’s what this exercise if for,” because, apparently, it was an exercise, “you’ve got this,” taking Marco’s erection in his mouth again, and Marco started playing, without thinking this time, his fingers moving automatically on the keys, until he reached the climax - and not that of the piece.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: MarcoAce - “Hey, have you seen the..? Oh.”, requested by anon

“Hey Haruta, have you seen the..? Oh.”

The man who had just entered the room, wearing nothing but boxers, his hair dishevelled like he just got out of bed, stopped talking when he saw Ace sitting on the couch, next to Haruta.

“Marco, dammit, put on something decent!” Haruta snapped and threw a couch pillow at his head.

Marco grinned. “Sorry, didn’t know you had company. I’m Marco, by the way.” He held out his hand to Ace.

“Ace,” Ace managed to bring out once he managed to stop staring at him.

“My little brother never lets me meet his friends. It’s like he thinks I’ll embarrass him of something,” Marco added with a grin.

“Will you just go!” Haruta held up a pillow threateningly and started to chase the laughing Marco out of the living room.

After that, Haruta sat back down on the couch with a sigh. “Don’t mind my stupid brother. See, this is why I never invite you over, not until I have my own place, anyway. Too many brothers to embarrass me.”

Ace hummed, but in reality, he wasn’t really listening. He was thinking about Marco, with his washboard abs and his nice smile, his gorgeous eyes.

Fuck, he shouldn’t be crushing on his friend’s brother. He had known that Haruta had many brothers, though, as the youngest, Haruta was the only one still permanently living at home, even though he was already going to university with Ace. The other brothers spent the night every once in a while at their father’s house, which was why he and Haruta usually studied in the library. Ace was living with Sabo and Luffy, which meant they didn’t have much peace and quiet there either.

“I thought no one would be home when I invited you,” Haruta said, sighing, “but then Marco suddenly arrived late last night.”

“So, is he going to university as well?” Ace asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

“Hm? No, he graduated a while back. He’s looking for work now. Why?”

“No reason.” Ace took a sip from his drink, continuing drinking as Haruta’s look became suspicious, until his glass was empty and he didn’t have an excuse anymore and had to put his glass down. “Shouldn’t we be studying? That’s why I’m here,” he hastily said and hid himself behind his textbook, because he knew his face was red.

“Oh my God,” Haruta said, a grin splitting his face in half. “You like my brother.”

“What?” Ace all but shrieked. “No, I don’t. We have to study chapter seven, right?”

“You so are. Marco!” Haruta suddenly yelled and started to run towards the stairs.

“Don’t you dare!” Ace threw his textbook to the side and set off in pursuit. “Haruta!”

He managed to catch up with him on top of the stairs and tackled him, placing a hand over his mouth.

A door opened, and Marco appeared again, a surprised look on his face. He was wearing shorts this time, though the shirt he was wearing was still unbuttoned.

“Eh, hello,” Ace said with a sheepish grin, still lying on top of Haruta and trying to ignore Haruta’s tongue licking his hand.

“Hi,” Marco said with a grin as he leaned against the doorframe.

“We were just,” Ace started, but Haruta managed to pull his hand away.

“Ace thinks you’re–mhpf!”

Fortunately, Ace managed to place his hand over Haruta’s mouth again before he could finish that sentence. He smiled at Marco again in what he hoped was a charming way.

“Well,” Marco said as he stepped over them to reach the stairs, “I think he’s very ‘mhpf’ as well.”

As he descended the stairs, Ace could only stare after him, wide-eyed. He didn’t even notice Harura managed to wiggle out from under him, snickering with laughter.

“Come on, the material isn’t gonna learn itself,” he said as he rose, and Ace nodded. “I first have to pee, though.”

Haruta hastened himself to the bathroom, and Ace started to descent the stairs. From the kitchen, he could hear sounds, and hesitantly, he made his way over.

Marco was busy making coffee.

“H-hey,” Ace said.

Marco turned around and smiled at him, his shirt still unbuttoned.

Ace swallowed, trying not to drool over his abs, and forced himself to look up. “Listen, Haruta was just messing with me. I don’t think… Well, I mean, you are hot, but–” He stopped abruptly, realising what he had said and pulled at the collar of his shirt that he didn’t really want to wear. “Is it hot in here?”

“I think it’s just you,” Marco said with a smirk.

“Real smooth, bro,” Haruta’s voice came sarcastically from behind them. “Come on, Ace, time to study.”

Ace let himself be pulled along, looking over his shoulder one more time and wondering how someone could make making coffee look hot.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: MarcoAce - “If you keep looking at me like that we won’t make it to a bed.”, requested by anon
> 
> No warnings apply

Ace felt his back pressing up against the door, while Marco continued kissing him passionately. They had just gotten back from another wonderful date, and Marco had driven him home, when their goodbye kiss turned into a passionate make out session.

Marco’s lips moved from his mouth to his neck, and Ace sighed happily as he leaned with his head the other way to give him access. He hadn’t known Marco that long, but they had immediately hit it off and every date had been a success. Marco wasn’t even grossed out by Ace’s manner of eating.

Marco kissed his lips one more time before pulling back. His lips were swollen, just like Ace’s, no doubt, and he moaned softly. “If you keep looking at me like that we won’t make it to a bed.”

Despite his state, hot and bothered, Ace chuckled. “If you wanted to do _that_ , you shouldn’t have brought me home.”

Confused, Marco tilted his head. “How come?”

Ace pulled him close by the lapel of his jacket. “Why do you think we always have sex at your place?”

“We haven’t had sex that often, so I didn’t notice,” Marco protested. “So what’s wrong with your house?”

As if on cue, the door was opened by Ace’s smirking brothers.

“And I present, the world’s most effective cockblockers,” Ace mumbled, before scowling at them. “What are you doing here?”

Sabo shrugged. “We heard talking, so we figured Marco had brought you home. And since you always conveniently leave with him when we’re not home – something I don’t think is coincidental,” Ace smiled sheepishly, “we finally wanted to meet him.”

“Yeah, Ace, you never let us see him,” Luffy added, pouting.

“And you’ve been going out for over a month already,” Sabo continued. “So we wanna meet him.”

Before either Ace or Marco could protest, Marco was dragged inside and was submitted for Sabo’s and Luffy’s approval.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: MarcoAce - “Wanna dance?”, requested by captain-yue-raccoon
> 
> To give a little background:  
> This summer, I went to a congress for medievalists (people who study the middle ages, such as myself). There were papers from Monday to Thursday morning, and on Wednesday evening there was a dance, dubbed “the Dancing Bibliography”, because quite respectable scholars went all out there XD
> 
> At such a congress, or that one, this drabble takes place

“And this concludes my presentation for today,” Marco said.

Applause arose before the session moderator announced it was time for questions.

Ace had been listening so intensely to the way Marco replied to the questions that he almost yelped when Sabo elbowed him in the ribs.

“Are you gonna ask him something?” he whispered.

Neither Sabo or Luffy were medievalists, but they had decided to come to the congress with Ace nonetheless. Luffy didn’t have enough concentration to sit through an entire session, so they let him run wild. Sabo alternated between accompanying Ace to sessions, going to a few on his own, and babysitting Luffy.

 “Shh, I’m trying to listen,” Ace whispered back, but he could feel the tips of his ears turn red.

“Yeah, it would be inappropriate to ask him out now,” Sabo said with a smirk.

“Shut up!” Ace elbowed him back. “He was very clear, is all.”

Sabo rolled his eyes. “Are you at least gonna talk to him afterwards?”

“M-maybe. If he is not too busy.”

“How did you pass your exam if you were crushing on your teacher this bad?” Sabo asked with a sigh.

“’Cause, he’s a great teacher. And he’s not my teacher anymore. I’m as good as graduated,” Ace hissed back.

Sabo huffed, but didn’t reply.

When the session time was up, Ace and Sabo started to pack their things. It was lunch time, so they had to hurry and meet Luffy at the tent where they could pick up their food. Ace was taking his time, though, because as he had feared, several people attending the paper were flocking around Marco.

Marco had taught several of the classes Ace had taken, but he didn’t know Ace was at the congress as well, as far as Ace knew. He had given his own presentation on the first day, but unfortunately at a time when most people were still traveling. Marco hadn’t shown up either, but Ace was sure he would have if he had known or could have.

Ace had been dying to attend Marco’s paper, not just because the subject was interesting, but also because he hoped to talk to him again. Sabo was right, he had a crush on Marco for a while already, even when he was Ace’s teacher, but now he wasn’t anymore, and with his graduation coming up, Ace feared this was the last time he might see Marco.

“Are you going or what?” Sabo asked him impatiently.

“There are a lot of people who want to ask him something. It doesn’t look like he has time,” Ace said bitterly.

“I don’t know, he might,” Sabo said with a smirk.

Ace looked up confusedly, when he heard a voice say, “Ace?”

Fuck, he hadn’t prepared for this. Nonetheless, Ace turned around. “Hey Marco.”

“I didn’t know you would be here,” Marco said with a smile.

“Yeah, I had a presentation as well. On Monday morning,” he clarified.

“Too bad I wasn’t here yet. I’d have loved to see it.” Marco smiled.

Ace smiled back, until Sabo cleared his throat.

“We really have to go, unless you want Luffy going on a rampage.”

Ace sighed. “Right.” Then his face brightened. “You could join us for lunch if you want,” he said to Marco.

“I’d love to, but I have a meeting,” Marco replied.

Ace tried not to look too crestfallen. “Okay. Ehm, so, are you going to the dance tonight?”

Marco smiled. “Yeah. Even if I didn’t want to, my friends would drag me there. And it’s kinda fun. Have you been here before?”

Ace shook his head.

“Then you’re in for a treat,” Marco said with a smirk. “I’ll see you tonight, then?”

Ace nodded eagerly and ignored Sabo’s smirk.

* * *

“So are you gonna go to him or what?” Sabo asked impatiently that night.

They had arrived a while earlier, and Ace already had several beers. He had spotted Marco soon enough, but decided he needed some liquid courage.

“I’ll go when I’m ready,” Ace muttered and took another sip.

“Do you want me to go talk to him?” Luffy asked while twirling around on a bar seat.

“No!”

“But I’m bored,” Luffy whined.

“Go dance or something,” Ace snapped nervously.

Sabo sighed. “Look, we came with you for moral support, and I’ve been entertaining Lu all week so you can get in this guy’s pants. The least you can do is try to make that happen.”

“Okay, but–” Ace didn’t get a change to finish his protest, because Sabo and Luffy had already pushed him towards Marco.

Reluctantly, he stepped up to him. Marco was talking with two other people who looked vaguely familiar to Ace.

“Hi Marco,” he said, his voice barely audible over the music.

Marco turned around, and his face brightened. “I was starting to think you changed your mind.”

Ace smiled, and his heart skipped a beat when Marco wrapped an arm around him to introduce him to his colleagues.

“This is Ace, one of my former students. Ace, this is Thatch and that’s Izo.”

“Hi,” Ace said, turning to Izo. “I’ve been to your presentation. It was really interesting.”

Izo smiled, but Thatch said mock-indignantly, “What, you haven’t been to mine?”

“Well, I–” Ace started, but Thatch’s started to laugh.

“I’m kidding. There are so many papers. It’s your first time here, isn’t it?”

Ace nodded.

“It can be quite overwhelming. Well, I’m gonna get some more beer. You want some too?”

“I still have beer,” Marco said and showed his half-empty glass.

“I think I have had enough,” Ace said sheepishly.

“I’ll join you,” Izo said as he followed Thatch through the crowd, turning his head and winking at Ace.

Now that their company was gone, Ace started to get nervous again. He looked at where he left Sabo and Luffy, but didn’t see them anymore. Until he noticed Luffy, seemingly stuck with his head in a bin, if Sabo trying to pull him out was anything to go by. Ace sighed and was about to go help, when Sabo saw him and gestured he had everything under control.

Sabo had done a lot for him this week, so the least he could do was dial up his flirting a little. If Marco wasn’t interested, he would find out soon enough.

“Hey, wanna dance?” he asked.

Marco emptied his glass and placed it on a table. “Sure.”

Felling quite giddy, even more so when Marco grabbed his hand not to lose him in the crowd, Ace led them onto the dance floor.

It became more and more crowded as time passed, and Ace was pushed closer and closer to Marco – not that he minded.

They were almost body to body when Marco leaned in and yelled in his ear – to be heard over the music, “It’s too bad I missed your paper. You think you can maybe give me a private presentation sometime?”


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Marcoace - “Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”, requested by anon
> 
> No warnings apply, unless you have a dirty mind XD

It wasn’t that Izo was a meddler. Far from it. It was just that Marco and Ace had insisted they were “just friends” for a very long time – yeah, right – and that they didn’t want to “tear each other’s clothes off" – sure.

But tonight, _finally_ , with a little help and encouragement from Izo – like, dressing them up and forcing them into a car – they had gone on their first date. Now they were back home, and, after all Izo’s work and days of frustration, it was only fair he knew what was going on.

Marco and Ace had immediately gone to Marco’s room, which was a good sign. And Izo just happened to be standing near the door, with his ear pressed against the wood. Total coincidence.

“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?” he could hear Marco ask.

Haruta and Thatch passed by in the hallway, but they knew better than to ask Izo what he was doing and merely shrugged.

“Of course I’m jealous. Yours is way bigger than mine!” Ace said with a whiny voice.

Izo let out a silent gasp. Would they be…?

“I don’t think it’s _way_ bigger,” Marco protested.

“It so is!”

“They come in different sizes, that’s just the way it is,” Marco continued. “You can have a taste of mine.”

Wide-eyed, Izo pressed himself harder against the door. This date had gone better than he expected.

“I don’t think it’ll fit into my mouth,” Ace said.

“You don’t have to put it all in. You can just lick it.” There was a moment of silence. “You like it?”

“Meh, I’ve had better.”

Izo almost facepalmed. Really, Ace? That didn’t sound like something you should say the first time. Dammit, Izo had really hoped that they would work out.

“Maybe you should try again.”

Izo sighed in relief. Of course Marco wouldn’t let one small comment ruin everything. But Ace really had to step up his game.

“Dammit, Ace, don’t bite!”

Okay, now they went too far. Izo threw open the door, looking outraged. “That’s it! I’m rooting for you guys, but you really have to dial down the kinky stuff, because…” His voice trailed off when he saw Marco and Ace sitting on Marco’s bed, fully dressed, and Ace was chewing on something hard.

“Kinky?” Marco asked. “We went to the travelling funfair, like you forced us to, and bought some stick candy.” He held up his, part of the top bitten off.

Ace started laughing, clutching at his stomach. “You thought I was biting Marco’s–”

“I did no such thing!” Izo called out, trying to sound indignantly, but in reality, he was glad he was wearing make-up, so they couldn’t see his bright red cheeks. “I knew what you were talking about. I just wanted to see how your date went.”

“It went very well,” Marco said with a smile and rose from the bed. “We brought one for you too, as a thank you.” He held out a bright pink stick candy, which Izo took stunned.

“Just keep it away from Ace,” Marco said with a wink, “or else he might bite in it.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: MarcoAce “Do you…well…I mean…I could give you a massage?”, requested by Lunarshores

The clock ticked away the seconds, sounding loud in the silent room, and Ace glanced at Marco, who was sitting next to him in the couch.

Marco coughed, and his eyes darted to the clock. “They’re certainly late, aren’t they?” he finally broke the silence.

“Y-yeah,” Ace replied. “They said seven, right?”

Marco took out his phone. “The text says indeed seven.”

“Right.”

It became silent again. Ace’s ankle rested on his other knee, moving his foot up and down nervously. Thatch and Izo had told him to be at their friend’s house at seven, because, apparently, this Marco needed some help moving stuff, after which Ace would go out with Thatch and Izo.

Ace wasn’t sure why he had agreed to help to move stuff from a stranger – okay, he did, as there had been food promised. But it was half past seven already, and there was still no sign of Thatch or Izo.

The past half hour Ace had sat in awkward silence with this stranger, who wasn’t hard to look at, if he was honest. Still, every time he wanted to strike up a conversation, his mind went blank.

“I could try to call them,” Marco suggested.

“Yeah.”

Marco took out his phone again and dialled a number. After a few seconds, however, he sighed. “Voicemail. I’ll try Izo then.”

When Izo didn’t pick up either, he put away his phone.

“You think we should be worried?” Ace asked.

“I doubt it.” Marco rubbed the back of his neck. “How long have you known them?”

“A while,” Ace asked, surprised. “Why?”

“They’ve never tried to set you up with someone before?”

Ace whipped his head around so fast he feared it might fall off. “What?”

Marco raised up his hands in defence. “It’s just something they would do. Why else would they coax you into help someone you don’t even know into moving their furniture?”

“I don’t know,” Ace muttered.

“Look,” Marco turned to face Ace, “I seriously doubt they’re gonna show up, so you can leave if you want.”

Ace pursed his lips as he thought for a moment. “Well, I did promise I would help you. In exchange for food, that is.”

Marco laughed, and Ace decided he liked his laugh. “Alright. How about we order some pizza and move the furniture until it gets here?”

“Sounds good,” Ace said with a grin.

After Marco had called the pizzeria and made their order, Ace rose from the couch. “Okay, what needs to be done?”

“I wanted to switch the couch with the bookcase over there,” Marco pointed. The books had already been neatly stacked next to the case, so Ace only had to lift it.

They moved the couch out of the way and carefully lifted the bookcase. It was heavier than Ace had expected, as it was made from oak wood. They had almost made it to the other side of the room, when Marco suddenly gasped and grabbed at his back. Ace could barely catch the bookcase before it would tilt over.

“What’s the matter? Did you do your back in, old man?” he couldn’t help but tease.

Marco shot him a glare. “I just pulled a muscle I think.”

Ace helped him to the couch that was still standing in the middle of the room. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine. This would be awkward if this was a real date,” Marco said jokingly as he rubbed his back.

Ace laughed nervously, before they fell into silence again. Ace crushed himself for not knowing what to say. When they didn’t think about it, their conversation had started naturally.

“Do you… well… I mean… I could give you a massage?” he suddenly blurted out.

Marco looked up in surprise. “Are you serious?”

Ace scratched the back of his head, his cheeks slightly flushed. “Well, I mean, I can’t leave you like this, and it’ll be a while before the food gets here, so…”

“Ehm, sure then. I guess.” Marco turned his back to Ace, wincing slightly.

Ace hadn’t actually expected him to agree, but now that he had, he couldn’t really back out – not that he wanted to. Carefully, he applied pressure on different places on Marco’s back. “Here?”

“A little lower… Yeah, there!”

Ace massaged the spot for a while when he said, “Maybe it would be better if you took your shirt off.”

“Wouldn’t that be weird?” Marco asked.

Ace shrugged. “If it helps, I can take my shirt off too. I don’t like shirts anyway.”

“That’s not really necesse–” Marco stopped talking when Ace suited the action to the word and pulled his t-shirt over his head. He had only worn it because he was meeting a stranger anyway.

Marco stared at him for a second, his eyes roaming Ace’s body.

Ace smirked. “Like what you see?” he asked teasingly.

Marco mirrored his expression, as he started to unbutton his own shirt. “If this was a date, I think it would be going very well.”

He sighed happily when Ace started to massage his back again.

Somehow, not wearing a shirt brought Ace’s confidence back – perhaps it was the way Marco had stared at him, or the fact that Marco looked very nice without a shirt as well. “So,” he started, “maybe this isn’t a real date, but would you be interested in going out with me sometime?”

Marco turned around to face him, a smile playing around his lips. “I would like that very much.”

Ace grinned and leaned in, feeling pleased when Marco closed the distance between them.

“Sorry we’re late. Thatch and I were–” Izo stopped talking when he saw his two friends sitting shirtless on the couch, making out.

Marco and Ace hastily let go of each other.

“Izo!” Marco said, surprised. “I thought you weren’t coming anymore.”

Izo raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t we come? We agreed to meet here, didn’t we?”

“You… weren’t trying to set us up?” Marco stammered.

“No. But that’s a brilliant idea! Thatch, did you hear that?” Izo called over his shoulder into the hallway.

Thatch grinned as he stood next to Izo in the doorway, wrapping an arm around him. “Seems like your matchmaking skills are so good that you can set people up even before you get the idea.”


	21. Chapter 21

Every summer vacation, Ace worked along with Sabo and Luffy in his grandfather’s flower store. They had started out just doing some chores like watering the plants and sweeping, but now that they were adults, they had taken over almost all tasks in the store itself, so that Garp could do the accounting and take a little break.

Well, Sabo and Ace had, because for many of the tasks Luffy was too Luffy to perform, but he still helped in his own way.

The pay was good, so Ace didn’t mind working a little in his free time, as studying made for an expensive life.

However, it was this year that a certain biker gang had declared their nice little neighbourhood to be their territory. They hadn’t destroyed anything yet, but Ace was certain it wouldn’t be long before they would be causing trouble.

The gang, with the logo _WB_ on the back of their jacket – of which Ace didn’t know what it stood for, but also not didn’t want to find out when Luffy offered to ask – was hanging out in front of their flower store often. Ace wasn’t afraid of them, and neither were his brothers – Luffy thought they were cool and wanted to join them – but he also didn’t want to provoke them. Bikers were aggressive and loved to destroy stuff, right? They couldn’t risk having the flower store smashed up, so the brothers always scurried past the gang quickly without provoking them in any way.

Well, again, Sabo and Ace did, while restraining Luffy from going over to them.

The first two weeks had passed peacefully, but Ace wasn’t ready to let his guard down. He was currently cutting the flower stalks for a bouquet while Sabo was sweeping the store and Luffy was somewhere probably making a mess in the back.

Ace as well as Sabo looked up when the little bell above the door chimed, announcing a customer. Their clientele had stayed away ever since the biker gang had shown up, only ordering flowers over the phone, so having someone in their store was surprising.

However, their new customer didn’t look like most of their clientele. The man was big, almost too big to fit through the door. He had a long black beard that fell in three parts, and under his arm, he carried a motorcycle helmet that had horns attached to it.

This was no customer, this was a biker here to cause trouble.

Ace gripped the small knife he was holding tighter, while he noticed from the corner of his eye that Sabo did the same with his broom. They probably wouldn’t be able to win a fight with the biker’s friends so close by, but at least they could do some damage. Before they were beaten to a pulp.

“What the hell do you want?!” Ace snapped, ignoring the warning look Sabo shot him. He probably should be more polite not to provoke the biker, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. These bikers cost him his clients.

The biker stepped further into the store, raising his eyebrow.

Ace braced himself.

“Flowers,” the biker said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Ace’s mouth fell open. He was too confused to act, but fortunately, Sabo recovered quicker.

“Certainly. Would you like a bouquet?” he asked in his most professional voice, like he wasn’t speaking to an aggressive biker, though Ace could still see Sabo was alert for any sudden movement.

The biker shot a glance at Ace, who stood still frozen behind the counter, while Sabo talked on and on about different types of flowers. To the common viewer, it would seem that he was completely professional, but Ace knew Sabo was being nervous by the way he was babbling.

Finally being able to move again, Ace glanced to the back, but it would appear that Luffy had no idea what was going on, and Ace liked to keep it that way. He silently closed the door and hid the small knife behind his back as he joined Sabo at the counter again, trying to look unaffected by the biker.

Eventually, the biker ordered a bouquet, which would be picked up the next day. He reached into his jacket, and immediately, Sabo and Ace were on their guard, but the only thing the biker retrieved was his wallet.

“I’d like to pay by card.”

* * *

The next day, Ace was nervous. That biker would come back today, and if he didn’t like the flowers, who knew what he’d do?

Sabo and Luffy were in the back taking inventory – well, Sabo was – so Ace was manning the store alone. The bikers weren’t standing in front of the door today, so they had had a few customers coming in, and every time one came in, Ace had a small heart attack, fearing that the biker was back.

The bell above the door chimed, and Ace whipped around, the watering can he used to water the flowers at the ready in case the biker was back.

However, the man who had entered looked nothing like a biker. He was tall and lean, with blond hair and a friendly face. He wore a black leather jacket that he would probably looked even better out of.

Ace could feel his jaw drop. This man was absolutely gorgeous.

“Hi,” the man greeted him, and cocked his head slightly to the side.

Ace realised he had been staring – trying not to drool – and tried to compose himself. “Hi! Er, welcome!’ he managed to say.

The man smiled, and Ace was surprised he didn’t melt right there and then. “I’m here to pick up some flowers.”

Ace nodded and all but ran towards the counter to help him as quickly as possible, but he tripped over a bucket of flowers and landed face first on the floor.

“Are you okay?” the voice of the customer sounded worriedly.

Ace scrambled to his feed and dusted off his apron, hoping didn’t look like as much of an idiot like he felt. “Yeah, I’m okay. So you’re here to pick up a bouquet?”

“Name of Newgate.”

Ace started to rummage through their orders to find the name, when he heard the door leading to the back behind him open.

“Ace, are you okay?” Sabo’s voice sounded.

Ace jumped and ran to the door. “I’m fine. It’s all under control,” he hissed, trying to close the door that Sabo was trying to push open. He didn’t need Sabo to meddle when he was trying to hit on this gorgeous man.

“Are you sure?” Sabo asked worriedly. “Isn’t it the biker?”

“He’s not a biker!” Ace hissed. “Just keep Lu in the back, okay?”

Sabo sighed and gave up.

Ace finally managed to close the door and smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way at the customer. “I’ll fetch the bouquet.”

He found the bouquet meant for Newgate – that name did sound familiar somehow, but Ace had answered the phone a lot so he probably knew it from there. “Here you go.”

“That looks great,” the customer said with a smile. “Pops will love it.”

“Oh, it’s for your dad?” Ace asked, glad he had a conversation starter. If this guy walked out of here without Ace getting a name, he would die.

The man smiled softly. “Yeah. He has some health issues, but he’s getting better. Actually, I think the man who owns this store is acquainted with him.”

“Oh, you mean Gramps?” Ace asked. “He’s away fishing for a few days, but I can send your father’s regards.”

He smiled again. “That would be great. Tell him Edward Newgate said hi.”

“I’ll give him the message,” Ace said with a smile. “But you know, it’s kinda weird that your dad knows my grandfather, yet we’ve never met. I’m Ace.” He held out his hand.

“Marco.”

Ace did an inner victory dance as he took Marco’s extended hand, and a shiver went down his spine when their skins made contact. God, this guy was hot!

“Well, Pops will be thrilled with the flowers,” Marco said as he let go of Ace’s hand. “You did a great job.”

“It wasn’t all me,” Ace said hastily. “I’m not even an actual florist. I just work here during the summer to save up some money.” Being a florist was lame, right? “I’m still studying.”

“Oh? Are you going to the university in town?”

Ace nodded. Marco seemed a little older than he was, probably in his late twenties.

Marco smiled. “I went there too. But it’s great you’re helping out your grandfather.”

Ace took a deep breath. Marco was definitely into him, right? Now he just needed to ask him out and pray Ace hadn’t made a fool out of himself too badly. “I-if you like, I could show you sometime how to arrange a bouquet. Or you know, something cool,” he hastily added.

Marco smiled. “I’d like that.”

Ace had trouble suppressing his fist pump. He was so in.

“Here’s my number,” Marco said as he wrote it down. “Call me.” With a rather flirtatious smile, he picked up the bouquet and walked towards the door.

Ace picked up the piece of paper and kissed it while Marco’s back was turned to him. However, he suddenly noticed something about said back. On Marco’s jacket, there was a logo that looked awfully familiar.

 _WB_.

Ace had a date with a biker.

“Holy shit!” Ace exclaimed, the paper falling from his hands, and Marco whipped around, startled. “You’re one of those bikers?!”

That was why the name Newgate sounded so familiar! The biker from the previous day had ordered a bouquet in that name!

 _Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit_ , were the only words going through Ace’s brain as Marco started walking back to the counter. Now he’d done it! He had provoked one of the bikers, and he and the store would pay the price.

Ace grabbed the small knife for the stalks and felt for the doorknob to the back behind him. Why didn’t Sabo come when he needed him?!

“Are you feeling okay?” Marco asked, his head cocked slightly to the side.

“S-stay away!” Ace held out the tiny knife for flower stems. “I won’t have you destroy the store! Sabo!” he yelled.

Marco raised an eyebrow. “Why would I do that?”

“’Cause! You’re one of those hooligan bikers! Sabo!” he yelled again, and finally, the door to the back opened.

Sabo was holding a pipe and Luffy too was looking ready to brawl as they stormed in.

Marco stared at the three of them, wide-eyed. “What…?”

“Oi, Marco, everything okay? We’re all waiting for–” Another biker had entered the story, this one with brown hair that was worked into a pompadour style. “Holy shit!” he interrupted himself when he saw the brothers standing ready, holding his hands up in a defensive manner. “We don’t want any trouble.”

“ _You_ don’t want trouble?!” Ace roared. “You picked the wrong flower store to mess with!”

“What the hell did you do?” the second biker asked Marco.

“I didn’t do anything. I thought he was asking me out.” Marco nodded into Ace’s direction.

“You asked out a biker?!” Sabo yelled at him, hitting Ace over the head with his pipe.

“Ouch! I didn’t know! He doesn’t look the part!”

Once more, the bell above the door chimed. “I knew we shouldn’t have sent Thatch,” a voice said. This time, it was yet another biker, with long black hair pinned up and his hands on his hips. When he saw the scene, he came to a stop. “What the hell is going on here? What did Thatch do now?”

“I didn’t do anything,” the second biker, Thatch, apparently, protested. “This time, it’s Marco’s doing,” he added a little smugly.

Marco seemed about to retort, but changed his mind and just sighed. “Let’s just go. I obviously made a mistake.”

He looked kind of sad, and Ace almost felt sorry for him.

The third biker rolled his eyes and took the one called Thatch by the hand, pulling him outside. Marco cast one last look over his shoulder before leaving the store too.

It was silent for a while. Then Sabo said, “Ace? I don’t think they want to smash up our shop.”

“Yeah, I kinda had that feeling too,” Ace said quietly. He felt guilty. Marco had done nothing to indicate that he was violent. On the contrary, he had seemed nice, and had wanted to go out with Ace.

Yet Ace had treated him like crap, just because he was part of a biker gang, which, in all honesty, had done nothing wrong either. Ace had been biased, and he needed to fix that.

“Manage the phone while I’m gone!” he called over his shoulder as he threw off his apron and ran through the door.

Outside, he looked the street both ways until he spotted the group of bikers, and he ran towards them.

“Marco?” he asked the first one he saw.

The biker shook his head and jerked his thumb to somewhere behind him.

Ace thanked him hastily and ran to the general direction until he spotted a biker holding the bouquet. His face was covered by a helmet.

“Marco!” he called and hasted towards him. “I’m really sorry! I thought you were violent because you were in a biker gang, but I shouldn’t have assumed and I’m really sorry I threatened you with a flower knife! If you’re still interested, I’d love to go out with you and get to know the real you.”

Marco remained silent, and Ace sighed.

“Yeah, I guess I kinda blew it, huh?”

“I’d love to go out with you, but I’m already taken,” a voice that was definitely not Marco said, and the biker took off his helmet. It was the third biker that had come into the store.

Ace’s face fell. “You’re not Marco.”

The biker shrugged.

“But I am.”

Ace whipped around when he heard Marco’s voice behind him. “Marco! I’m really sorry!”

Marco took off his helmet and leaned against his bike, arms crossed before his chest.

Ace sighed. “I’m sorry about my brothers too, they just came to my aid. But yeah, I guess I can’t really make up for it.”

“You could try,” Marco said suddenly.

Ace’s face lit up.

Marco got a spare helmet from somewhere and handed it to him. “Ever ridden a bike before?”

Ace shook his head excitedly.

“If you have time, we could go for a ride.” Marco slung his leg over the motorcycle and looked at Ace expectantly.

“Yeah, I can take my lunchbreak.” Ace placed the helmet on his head and sat behind Marco, wrapping his arms around him.

Marco placed his helmet on his head as well and started the engine. Ace could practically hear the smirk in his voice when he said, “Hold on tight.”


	22. Chapter 22

“Thanks again for taking me to lunch,” Thatch said as he took the menu handed to him by their waiter.

“Well, you’re helping me move, so this is the least I owe you,” Marco replied.

“Have you been here before?”

Marco looked at the list of dishes. “No, but I come by it a lot and it looks nice.”

“So you’ve no idea how the food is,” Thatch concluded.

“I’m sure it’s not as great as at your bistro.”

Thatch nodded satisfied.

Marco finally decided on a dish and placed his menu on the table. Thatch still seemed to have trouble choosing, so Marco opted for looking around the restaurant. It was small but cosy, and almost all tables were taken. If the food was as great as the atmosphere was, Marco would definitely come here more often.

Suddenly, his eye fell on a waiter on the other side of the room, and his eyes widened.

Thatch noticed his sudden change of pose and looked up. “What?”

“Don’t look, but I think I flirted with that waiter there once,” Marco said softly as he nodded in the direction where the man was standing.

“Where?” Thatch turned his head.

“I said _don’t_ look!” Marco hissed.

Thatch placed his menu in front of his face, like that was less suspicious. “Which one?”

“The one with black hair.”

“He’s cute. Why didn’t you ask him out?” Thatch asked as he turned back to the table.

Marco sighed. “We met in this horrible club a few months back. I was about to ask him out when he was called away and I didn’t see him again. I didn’t even catch his name.”

“Well, now you have another chance. Oi–!”

Marco roughly pulled down Thatch’s arm he had lifted up to wave at the waiter. “Will you stop it?” he hissed. “Like I said, it was months ago. Besides, he’s working. This is hardly the time to ask him out. Fuck, now he’s coming over!” Marco hid behind his menu.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Thatch hissed back.

They both straightened from their hunched position when the waiter came over. He was even cuter than Marco remembered, with the freckles decorating his face. Marco swallowed.

“Have you decided?” the waiter asked cheerfully.

“We already have a waiter,” Marco said, keeping his face neutral when Thatch kicked him under the table. Thatch, however, didn’t have such a poker-face, earning him a curious look from their waiter.

“My colleague has just gone home sick, so I’ll be taking over,” the waiter said. “So what can I get ya?”

“I think Marco will have the sausage,” Thatch said, immediately losing his composure as he doubled over. Marco kicked him again, but it did nothing to shut up the hiccupping Thatch.

“I’ll have the club sandwich,” Marco said as he handed the menu back to the waiter.

“That’s a great choice. It’s my favourite,” the waiter said with a grin. Then he cocked his head as he stared at Marco. “You look familiar. Have you eaten here before?”

“Can’t say that I have,” Marco replied.

Thatch, having calmed himself, tried to kick him again, but failed as he hit his knee against the table. The waiter gave him an odd look. “I’ll have the same,” Thatch said with a painful grin.

Their waiter smiled again. “Coming right up!”

“Why didn’t you tell him you met at that club?” Thatch asked after he had left, rubbing the painful spot on his knee.

“Because it was months ago. How pathetic would it look if I still remembered him right away?”

Thatch rolled his eyes. “No more than pretending not to know him.”

Marco huffed. “Just because you’re in a relationship doesn’t mean you’re qualified to dish out dating advice. Besides, like I said, he’s working.” Marco searched the room for the waiter and found him at the bar. His face fell when he saw that the waiter was talking to some blond guy. They acted quite familiar with each other.

Thatch looked over his shoulder, having probably noticed Marco’s disappointment. “Come on, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” he said cheerfully. “They could be brothers or something.”

Marco gave him a deadpanned look. “They look nothing alike.” He sighed. “Just forget it, okay? I missed my chance.”

Thatch opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it and changed the subject. He started talking about his restaurant, but Marco found it hard to pay attention. He kept looking at the waiter and the blond man. It seemed there was a third person involved in the conversation, a black haired boy who twirled around on his bar stool. _He_ could be the waiter’s brother.

Suddenly, the blond guy and the black haired boy rose and made their way over to Marco and Thatch. “Hey,” the blond man started, “it seems like all tables are taken. Would you mind if we join you?”

Marco eyed the two empty seats next to him and Thatch, and then glanced around the restaurant. It was true that is was quite busy, though why the blond guy had chosen to sit next to them of all places eluded Marco.

“I’m Sabo,” the blond man continued, “and this is Luffy.” He slapped the black haired boy on the head.

“Sure, have a seat,” Thatch said, much to Marco’s annoyance. “I’m Thatch, and that grumpy guy is Marco.”

“Thanks. Nice to meet you guys.”

“Meat! I almost forgot!” Luffy cried out.

Sabo hit him over the head. “Behave!” he hissed. “Ace will be right over. Just sit down.”

“But I thought we had to– Ouch! Sabo, that hurt!”

Sabo smiled charmingly at Thatch and Marco. Slightly confused, Thatch continued their conversation.

From the corner of his eye, Marco held an eye on Sabo. Luffy seemed innocent enough, babbling about food, but Marco had trouble figuring out Sabo. He looked engrossed in his discussion with Luffy, but somehow, Marco had a feeling he kept an eye on Marco as much as Marco did on him.

Finally, the waiter came over with their orders, placing it in front of Thatch and Marco. “Have a nice meal!” He walked over to the other side of the table. “How can I help you, _sirs_?”

“Shishishi! Ace, you’re talking funny– Ouch! Ace, Sabo!” Luffy pouted as he rubbed his shin.

Marco raised his eyebrow. He wondered why the waiter – Ace – was pretending he didn’t know Sabo and Luffy, since they had obviously been talking at the bar.

Sabo coughed. “I’ll have what he’s having.” He pointed at Marco’s sandwich.

“And I want lots of meat!” Luffy called. “You promised I’d get lots and lots if we went to see if he liked you.” He jerked his thumb in Marco’s direction.

“Shut up!”

“Dammit, Luffy!” Both Ace and Sabo hit him over the head simultaneously.

Marco’s mouth fell open, while Thatch clutched at his stomach in laughter. “Oh man, this is hilarious!” he managed to wheeze out. “If I’d known they were fishing, I’d have said how cute Marco thinks his waiter is!”

Ace looked at Marco, his eyes widened slightly.

Marco sighed, rubbing his temples. He was feeling slightly uncomfortable now that everyone was staring at him. “We did meet before, just not here,” he finally said to Ace. “It was in some kind of obscure club a few months back.”

“Yeah, I remembered that too after I had taken your order. I really had fun that night, but I never got the chance to ask you out. Since that was the fault of these idiots,” Ace pointed at Sabo and Luffy, who protested loudly, “I figured the least they could do was check if you remembered me.” He smiled sheepishly.

Marco smiled back. “I do remember you.”

Thatch looked from one to the other, sighing deeply. “Will you just ask each other out already?! Ace, I think someone wants your attention.” He pointed at a customer who was waving.

“Oh, right!” Ace turned to Marco. “I really should get back to work…”

Sabo rolled his eyes, pushing Ace in the direction of the customer. “Just go! I’ll get you his phone number.”

When Ace had left, he sunk back in his chair with a sigh. “Honestly, it’s like he can’t do anything himself.”

“It’s the burden we must carry for having idiot friends,” Thatch agreed dramatically, holding out his glass to Sabo, who clinked his glass against his. “Ouch! Dammit, Marco!”

Marco smiled satisfied at Thatch’s pout. He may be surrounded by idiots, at least he finally would have a date with Ace.

  



	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: MarcoAce, shady motel in Oslo, requested by MyLadyDay
> 
> Three sentence fic

His eyes covered with sunglasses and the collar of his coat turned up, Ace looked over his shoulder as he hastened himself through the empty streets of Oslo towards the motel where he had agreed to meet Marco, away from prying eyes, and they finally could be alone. It was hard not to throw his arms around Marco’s neck as soon as he opened the door, but they weren’t safe behind closed doors yet, so he cast another look over his shoulder to see if he was followed, before moving into the room and taking the papers they needed out of the inner pocket of his coat. 

“So,” he said as he took a seat on the bed with a grin on his face, “who should we invite for Pops’ birthday?”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: MarcoAce, dancers in NYC for the casting of butt Easter eggs, requested by MyLadyDay
> 
> For the butt Easter eggs, see [here](www.buzzfeed.com/taylormiller/13-reasons-easter-butts-are-way-better-than-easter-eggs#.ieq6zYzxvc)
> 
> Warning: slightly NSFW
> 
> Three sentence fic

Marco was going to strangle his agent as soon as he saw him again, as he had been told that for the gig, he had to model in the nude, which he was fine with, but having _Easter eggs_ drawn on his _butt_ to be photographed with, that was where he drew the line. 

He was about to storm out of the studio, when he was called in by a young man with freckles and a dazzling smile, and somehow, Marco’s body automatically went over to him, despite the bizarreness of the situation, he had a great butt after all and a gig was a gig. Before he knew it, he was standing naked in the dressing room with a towel over his package and the freckled man who had introduced himself as Ace was painting Easter eggs on his butt, yet suddenly, Marco didn’t think this job was that bad.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: marcoace, where ace is trying to flirt/seduce marco, but marco keeps missing it, requested by Lunarshores
> 
> Three sentence fic

Ace had no idea how much more obvious he could get without lying naked on Marco’s bed with a rose between his teeth and a bow around his package before Marco noticed that he was flirting with him, because pretty much everyone else aboard had noticed - Izo had been the first, of course - and Ace was pretty sure there were bets going on between the crewmembers - again, Izo was probably the one behind it all - when Marco would finally take a notice, or when Ace would finally snap. 

His current plan, however, should have been fool proof and didn’t involve lying naked on anyone’s bed - he had called that plan B, or, more accurately, plan Z, because his other attempts up till now had all failed - but he had made one tiny miscalculation as he hadn’t taken into account the marine attack, which now left him handcuffed with seastone to a very pissed off Marco aboard a navy ship, and somehow, confessing now seemed like a bad idea. 

Perhaps he should have gone for plan B after all.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "I wish you would write more of that fantasy AU where Ace is a half elf", requested by minister-of-silly-walks
> 
> This story is part of a series of stories, which are all indepenibly readable. For chronological order of events, read in the following order:  
> \- [Uncharted Waters](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7684903) (Thatch/Izo)  
> \- [Head of the Herd](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4430312) (Shanks/Benn Beckman)  
> \- [Afraid This Time](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4222389) (Marco/Ace)  
> \- [Burning Feathers chapter 26](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4019764/chapters/15358561) (Marco/Ace)

The past weeks had flown by for Ace, so fast that he had trouble registering everything that had happened. For years, he had travelled by himself, pretending to be human, but never trusting anyone with the truth. That all had changed when he had met Shanks and Marco, a centaur and an elf on a mission. Because of circumstances, he had decided to stay with them and soon had started to like them. Even after his secret had come out, they had wanted to stay his friends, and Marco even more than that.

Later, Ace had met Robin, Benn, Luffy and Sabo, whom all became his friends as well. Having friends, especially so many, felt so surreal that Ace couldn’t quite comprehend it.

Shanks and Benn had decided to go home, as had Marco, and their journeys led down the same path. Because Ace had never known a home before, and because Marco had asked him, he had decided to come and meet Marco’s family.

Even though Marco had assured him that his family would love Ace and that several of his siblings were half elves, Ace couldn’t help but feel nervous the closer they got to the lands owned by Marco’s father. Not only was he not sure if Marco’s family would like him, despite the many friends he had made in a short time, but Ace was also Marco’s boyfriend. Even if there were several half elves in the family, one dating a full-blooded elf was a different story altogether. Wasn’t it?

Shanks and Benn accompanied them, as they were promised a party. Marco and Ace could even use them as mounts, so the travel went faster, though it went way too fast for Ace’s taste. However, he could see how excited Marco was to go back home. He hadn’t seen his family in a long time, so Ace couldn’t blame him. He decided to hide his anxiety and smiled at Marco when he pointed out where their lands began.

Something – or rather, someone, Ace noted – came flying up to them and landed in front of them.

Marco’s face lit up, and he jumped off Benn’s back. “Hello, Haruta,” he said.

Haruta, a fairy, judging by the butterfly wings on his back, all but flew into his arms. “Took you long enough,” he said, sniffling.

“I’m sorry,” Marco said softly. “I needed to fulfil my promise first. But I have now, and I brought someone.” With a smile, he turned to Ace, who tried to his behind Shanks’ human back. “Don’t be shy.”

Reluctantly, Ace jumped off Shanks’ horseback and shuffled towards Marco, repressing the instinct to pull down his woolly cap over his slightly pointed ears. It didn’t help that Haruta studied him intensely.

Finally, Haruta seemed to have reached a conclusion and grinned. “Welcome!” he exclaimed. “I’ll go tell Pops you’ve arrived.” He took off, his wings spread.

“Make sure to tell there’ll be a party!” Shanks called after him. “Or we’ve come here for nothing.”

Marco snorted. “I thought you were here for the pleasure of our company.”

“Please, after almost a year, I’ve had enough of your company,” Shanks replied, but his tone was good-naturedly.

As they continued their bickering, Benn gestured to Ace to climb on his back, and together they followed Haruta.

* * *

Things had actually gone a lot better than expected. Ace had met almost everyone by now, though remembering all the names would prove to be a challenge. All species he could think of were represented here, from half-giants to fauns and from fairies to mermaids. The major part of the family consisted of half elves, however, and they welcomed Ace with open arms.

Marco was making it no secret how he felt about Ace, holding his hand or placing an arm around his shoulders, and no one seemed offended by it. They merely teased Marco good-naturedly. It relaxed Ace visibly, and he started to come out of his shell.

His test wasn’t over, however, as he still had to be introduced to Marco’s father, an actual giant from what he had heard. Marco’s family had tried to scare him by tell him Whitebeard, as what he was known as, liked to crush the bones of his enemies, but Marco had reassured him that Whitebeard did no such thing.

Once Ace had met everyone expect Pops, a dwarf called Atmos informed Marco that Whitebeard was awake from his nap, and Ace couldn’t help but feel nervous again. After all, he still had to impress his boyfriend’s father, a situation he had never thought he’d be in.

Marco seemed to notice his anxiety and squeezed his hand reassuringly. Shanks and Benn had left them a while ago to catch up with the family.

Reluctantly, Ace let himself be dragged to the place where Whitebeard apparently held up. Outside the giant cave, Marco pulled him close and kissed his lips.

“He’ll love you,” he said earnestly, and his confidence reassured Ace a little. He followed Marco inside.

Whitebeard was sitting on an enormous throne carved from stone. When he saw Marco, he held out his hand and smiled warmly. “Welcome back, son.”

Ace could see an almost childlike grin grow on Marco’s face as he left Ace’s side to greet his father. Marco climbed limberly on the throne and hugged Whitebeard. Ace couldn’t help but smile at the affection, even if he felt slightly ignored.

When Whitebeard let go of Marco, he looked at Ace. “And who’s this?” he asked, his loud voice echoing through the cave.

“This is Ace.” Marco sounded almost proud, and a fond smile appeared on his lips.

Now that suddenly all the attention was on him again, Ace became nervous again and he looked at his toes.

“Look at me, son.”

Despite the warmth with which the words were said, Ace froze in place, his breath quickening. Never before had anyone called him that. His father, whom he despised, had died before he was born and his mother while giving birth to him. He had spent most of his life running from everyone, and he had never known affection. Slowly, he cast his eyes up at Whitebeard, who smiled at him.

Marco leaped off the throne and moved to stand next to Ace, intertwining their fingers as he stood proudly before his father.

Whitebeard’s smirk grew, before he burst out in laughter. “Gurahaha! I knew a journey would be good for you. My boy,” he turned to Ace, “you’re welcome to stay as long as you like. And by the looks of you two, that’ll be for a long time!”

* * *

Exhausted, Ace let himself fall on what had been appointed as his bed. He felt pleasantly buzzed. On their way to Marco’s family, Shanks hadn’t shut up about the awesome parties they threw, and it turned out that he had been right. The party, both a welcoming party for Ace and a goodbye party for Shanks and Benn, had been wild, but great. Ace couldn’t remember when he had laughed so much in one evening, when so many people laughed with him.

It was strange how easily Marco’s family accepted him as one of their own. In just a couple of hours, he had gone from total stranger to their brother. And Ace had never felt so loved.

Soft footsteps approached and someone drew away the curtain that separated Ace’s sleeping quarters from the others.

“I just wanted to see if you needed anything else,” Marco whispered. He kneeled down next to Ace’s bed and caressed his hair.

Ace smiled. “Well, there is one thing I could use.” He wrapped his arms around Marco’s neck and pulled him into a kiss.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: wrong number AU, "Ace sends a picture to a stranger's number on accident (Marco ofc) and he sends a dick pic with the caption 'my bananabread' because he attached the wrong pic", requested by MyLadyDay.

Marco’s phone buzzed, and he looked up from his book, annoyed. It was late. His brothers were all asleep by now, so they wouldn’t call him. Or rather, text him, as was proved by the fact that the buzzing had stopped already. Unless Thatch was drunk again and needed to be picked up from somewhere. Marco was usually the victim of these actions, because his brothers knew he didn’t sleep much and was usually awake at the godforsaken hours of the night.

Sighing, he placed his book aside and reached for his phone on his nightstand. When he activated it, however, he saw that the text had come from a number he didn’t know. That didn’t necessarily say much, because Thatch could have easily borrowed someone’s phone. Sighing again, Marco opened the text. And almost dropped his phone.

Of one thing he was certain. Thatch had _not_ sent that text. Even he had never been drunk enough to send Marco a dick pic. Or hopefully to anyone.

However, that was exactly what he was currently looking at. A picture of someone’s dick, and he had no idea whose. The capitation underneath didn’t help, as it only read ‘ _My banana bread_ ’. Marco had heard that some guys nicknamed their dicks, but banana bread seemed somewhat odd.

He was about to delete the text and forget he’d ever gotten it, when another one came in. ‘ _Can you see the dates?_ ’ it read.

Marco’s jaw dropped a little. What was with this guy and food euphemisms? Did he realise who he was texting to? Because Marco hadn’t handed out his number recently, nor had he talked to people online. Was this a prank from his brothers? Izo certainly seemed to think he needed to get laid, but this really wasn’t the way to make that happen.

He was just considering telling the guy, whoever it was, off, when a third text arrived, soon followed by a fourth. ‘ _Omg_ ,’ read the first. ‘ _Sabo, don’t look! I sent the wrong picture!!_ ’

Marco’s eyebrows rose. Obviously, the guy thought he had texted someone else, which indicated that this wasn’t a prank from his brothers.

A new photo arrived, this time showing something that Marco imagined could be a banana bread. Before tonight, in any case.

‘ _That’s my bread. Please tell me you didn’t gouge out your eyes with a rusty spoon! I’m so sorry!_ ’

Obviously, this Sabo person was not used to see the stranger’s dick. Marco was relieved that the banana bread and dates hadn’t been euphemisms for the guy’s genitals after all. Still, he wondered if the guy would be relieved or even more upset when he found out he had been texting the wrong person. The stranger was obviously waiting for a reply to be sure that Sabo wasn’t upset with him, so ignoring him would be cruel.

‘ _Sabo’s eyes should be fine, considering he hasn’t seen what I’ve seen_ ,’ Marco typed. He placed his phone next to him, but he had to admit he was somewhat excited to see the response. He couldn’t be sure that the guy – if it even was one, it could be someone else’s dick – wasn’t a douche who send pictures of his dick to strangers – why would you even have such a picture? – so his response now would tell a lot about him.

He looked at his phone, but it hadn’t buzzed yet. Despite his better judgement, he checked to see if he had any messages. He didn’t. Sighing, he placed his phone next to him. Maybe the stranger was too humiliated to reply. Or maybe he was relieved he hadn’t texted Sabo after all. In any case, Marco should forget about the whole thing. He picked up his book again, but he couldn’t focus on the text. Every once in a while, he caught himself glancing at the phone. Eventually, he decided it wasn’t any use, as he kept reading the same paragraph over and over, so he should try to get some sleep.

Just as he was about to turn out the light, however, his phone buzzed.

‘ _Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I can’t believe I accidentally sent my dick to a stranger! I’m really sorry, I have a new phone and I thought I knew my brother’s number by heart..._ ’ The text was followed by another. ‘ _Obviously, I didn’t. I was really proud of my banana bread so I wanted to show it. I don’t call my dick that. I’m Ace, by the way._ ’

‘ _Marco_ ,’ Marco wrote back. ‘ _You know, you wouldn’t make those mistakes if you didn’t have a dick pic_.’

‘ _Don’t tell me you don’t have one._ ’

Marco’s lips curled into a smile. Despite the fact that he only knew what this guy’s dick looked like, he seemed to have a sense of humour, and, more importantly, self-mockery. ‘ _What would I do with that?_ ’

‘ _Send it to me?_ ’

Marco raised his eyebrow at the text. Was Ace flirting with him? Or was he still joking? ‘ _You want to see my dick?_ ’ he wrote, for the lack of a better response.

‘ _A dick for a dick? I believe it’s a proverb_.’

Marco snorted. ‘ _Call me old fashioned, but you’ll have to earn it to see my dick_.’

‘ _Are you asking me out? Brave man, without knowing what I look like._ ’

‘ _I’ve seen your dick_ ,’ Marco wrote, but immediately deleted it again. Instead, he wrote, ‘ _I’ll see you on our date. If you agree, of course_.’ Marco had no idea what he was doing, but he had gone too far to go back now. He wasn’t about to back down. ‘ _At least I know you can cook_.’

‘ _Don’t count on it. My bread was burned. Not as bad as usual, which is why I sent Sabo the pic. But haven’t you heard? Us kids take selfies all the time._ ’ The text was followed by a picture of a young man with black hair and a freckled face. He was really cute, and suddenly Marco felt strangely self-conscious. After all, he was a bit older than Ace. What if he was disappointed when Marco sent a picture? Still, it would be better to know now if Ace didn’t like what he saw than if they were on a date.

He took a few pictures of himself until he found one that was acceptable and in which it wasn’t too obvious he was wearing pyjamas. He sent it and waited for a reply. Meanwhile, he cast a look at his alarm clock. It was half past four. He should probably try to get some sleep soon, if he wanted to function in the morning. On the other hand, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep without getting a reply, though there was no guarantee he would even get one.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, his phone buzzed again. ‘ _How’s next Saturday? Where do you live?_ ’

Marco sighed in relief. Ace was still interested. As he started typing his address, he found that even if he had never expected it, he was happy he had received a dick pic.


	28. Chapter 28

_My brother is going to stay with us for tonight. Well, when I say us, I mean you, because I’m out, but he shouldn’t bother you. He has a key and will just crash in my room for the night. You might not even see him._

_Oh, and leftovers are in the fridge, I know that’s the only reason you bothered to read this note._

_Thatch_

Ace’s eyes were barely open as they moved across the lines, but he perked up at the last sentence. Work had been exhausting, and to be honest, Ace was happy he wouldn’t have to see Thatch’s brother, at least not until the morning. He just wanted to eat and go to sleep.

As he waited for the food to warm up in the microwave, he dozed off, starting awake from the beeping sound that announced food. Despite his tiredness, he was hungry as always and devoured the food with relish. Thatch’s cooking was the best.

When he had eaten, sleepiness washed over him again, and with reluctance, he dragged himself to his bedroom. He didn’t even bother to turn on the lights as he took off his shirt and kicked away his trousers in some random corner. He would find them again tomorrow.

With a happy sigh, he crawled under the blanket and closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep.

A warm presense behind him moved and an arm wrapped around him.

Ace’s eyes shot open and with a yelp, he bolted out of bed. In his hurry, he picked up the first weapon he could find, a hammer that was still lying around from his unfinished IKEA bookcase, and scrambled towards the door to find the light switch.

In his bed, a strange man was sitting upright, probably startled awake, his blond hair tousled. His eyes were still wide in shock and he held up his hands defensively. “D-don’t be afraid!” he called when seeing the hammer lifted up threateningly. “I’m Thatch’s brother!”

Slowly, Ace remembered Thatch’s note and he lowered the hammer. “Then why are you in _my_ bed?” he asked sharply.

The man sighed and combed with his hand through his hair. Now that it turned out he wasn’t a random creep that lay in people’s beds, Ace had to appreciate his good looks. He was tan, and his abs were so hard you could bounce a coin off it. For a brief moment, Ace feared he might be naked, but then he saw a light blue band peeping over the edge of the blanket, proving that he was at least wearing boxers.

“I thought this was Thatch’s room,” the man admitted. “He wasn’t very specific which one it was and I always have to put together his IKEA things, because he’ll break them. I just thought it was his way of welcoming me.” He gestured at the unfinished bookcase.

“Well, no, it’s mine,” Ace said, “but that does sound like something Thatch would do. I’m his roommate, Ace.” He held out his hand.

The man smiled at him and took his hand. “I’m Marco. How about I put that bookcase together for you? It’s the least I can do after giving you a heart attack.”

Ace handed him the hammer and watched as Marco went to work. “You didn’t seem to mind the company, though,” he said musing.

Marco looked up and smiled sheepishly. “I guess I was just attracted by the warmth.”

Ace snickered and sat down on the edge of the bed. Perhaps they should have wait until the morning, he thought, but to his surprise, he wasn’t that tired anymore.

“There,” Marco said as he tightened the last screw, sitting on his knees in front of the case, “that should do it.”

“You work like a professional,” Ace said with a grin. “Including the builder’s bum.”

Marco hastily hoisted up his boxers from behind before he rose. “Sorry about that. And about scaring you. I’ll go to the right room now, but perhaps I can make you breakfast in the morning? I’m not as good as Thatch, of course, but I’m not a half bad cook.”

Ace grinned at him. “That sounds great.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A continuation from chapter 28

Marco was feeling slightly nervous as he knocked on the door of his brother’s apartment. Technically, he had the key, that was how he had gotten into the building, but to waltz inside the apartment was a bit much. Especially since it wasn’t his brother he was currently here for.

Marco had met Ace in a less than conventional way, to say the least. A week ago, he had gotten back from living abroad for a while, and Thatch lived the closest to the airport. Because he hadn’t been home anyway, he had kindly offered Marco his room for the night. Only… Only he hadn’t mentioned he had a roommate, and Marco had accidentally picked the wrong room to sleep in. Ace hadn’t noticed him until he crawled into bed with Marco. It had been awkward at first, but then Marco had put together Ace’s Ikea bookcase, and in the morning they had had breakfast together. Marco hadn’t expected to like Ace so much, and, considering the way they met, he definitely hadn’t expected Ace to say yes when he asked him out.

Yet he had, and now here Marco was, with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, standing in front of Thatch’s door. He told himself he had nothing to be worried about, but, in hindsight, he had realised it might be awkward if he and Ace didn’t work out, considering Thatch was Ace’s roommate as much as he was Marco’s brother. Still, he decided he was being overly dramatic and knocked on the door before he could change his mind.

The door swung open, revealing Thatch, whose face went from surprised to happy. “Marco! I hadn’t expected you! Are those for me?” He grabbed the flowers from Marco’s hands before he could protest. “A little odd, but I’ll take it.”

“Well, I–” Marco started.

Thatch’s eyebrows rose. “Are you trying to tell me they’re not for me? Because the only reason you could be here is to visit your favourite brother, right?”

Marco wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, so he said coolly, “Vista doesn’t live here.”

Thatch looked hurt for a moment, before huffing, “So then you must be here to return the key, right?”

“I…” Marco hesitated, unsure what to say. He had been abroad for a while and was only back for a week, so Thatch might take it the wrong way if he said he wasn’t there for him.

Thatch stared him down for a moment, before he burst into laughter. “You don’t think Ace told me about your encounter? It was hilarious, by the way. Anyway, I know you’re here for him.” He stepped aside to let Marco in.

Marco sighed, relieved, and entered the apartment.

“I’m keeping the flowers, though,” Thatch said, “as payment. After all, if it wasn’t for me, you kids would have never found each other.”


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "I wish you would write a MarcoAce fic based on the anime movie Redline"
> 
> For those who don't know the movie, it's about an interplanetary race called Redline.

Winning the Yellowline race to qualify himself for the Redline was one thing, but Ace knew that the hardest part was still to come. Years he had dreamed of being qualified for the most popular race in the galaxy, in which only the best were allowed to participate. The current champion for years in a row was a giant alien called Whitebeard, and it was Ace’s goal to win from him.

Sabo, one of his mechanics, was still mad at him, as he had used the booster one time to many during the Yellowline to win, which caused his car to be pretty much in shambles. Still, Sabo was one of the best mechanics in the galaxy, so Ace wasn’t worried that his car would be ready in time for the big race.  

Currently, they were on a planet of which Ace had forgotten the name already, so Sabo and Luffy could fix Ace’s ride. Ace himself knew nothing about cars except how to drive them, so he wasn’t much use. He had been hanging out in the garage Sabo and Luffy were working in, until Sabo had accused him of only being in the way and kicked him out. Luffy had gone with him, as he had been bored with fiddling with the car, but he had been distracted by something or the other and ran off. Ace found himself alone and wandering around the planet he didn’t know.

After a while, he passed a garage, its door standing open wide. Inside, a man was leaned over, looking under the hood of a car. Obviously, it was a race car, and Ace wondered briefly if he would be in the Redline as well. At the moment, however, he was more interested in the behind of the man fiddling with the car.

As he was staring, the man turned around, wiping his greasy hands on an equally greasy rag. He was a human, wasn’t rare per se, but good to know, with blond hair and the most beautiful blue eyes Ace had ever seen. He seemed surprised to see Ace. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Ace replied. “Nice ride,” he continued, as ‘nice ass’ would probably be a little too forward.

“Thank you.” There was a proud smile on the man’s face as he looked at the car.

“She fast?” Ace asked in an attempt to keep the conversation going.

The smile on the man’s face grew to a smirk. “She should be, if we’re going to win the Redline.”

Ace’s lips curved into a grin. “Really? I’m in it too.”

“I thought you looked familiar. It’s Ace, right?” The man walked up to him and held out his hand as Ace nodded. “I’m Marco.”

Ace had to admit he had hardly paid attention to the competition, as he was only in it to beat Whitebeard. To be honest, he hadn’t even checked if Whitebeard was participating this year, but the champion couldn’t suddenly stop, right?

“Nice to meet you,” he said instead. “Is it your first time?” Marco looked a little familiar, but Ace couldn’t place him as one of the racers. Maybe he had been a mechanic before who now replaced a former racer.

“It is.”

“Mine too,” Ace said excitedly. “I’ve dreamt all my life to be in it, and now I am. I can’t wait to beat Whitebeard this year.”

“Haven’t you heard?” Marco leaned under the hood of the car again. “Whitebeard isn’t participating this year. He’s retired.”

“What?” Ace exclaimed his voice sounding higher than he would have liked. “That’s… That’s not fair! I’m supposed to beat him!” Defeated, he leaned against the wall of the garage, arms crossed before his chest.

Marco turned around and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t be too disappointed. The Redline race is still highly competitive. Besides, Whitebeard has sent his best racer to replace him.”

Ace perked up at that. “Really? Who?”

Marco grinned. “Me.”

It was only then that Ace remembered where he had seen Marco before. It was at Whitebeard’s side when he collected his trophy. Marco had been his mechanic, and now he was a racer himself. It was still a little disappointing that Whitebeard didn’t race this year, but Ace had thought of a way to make this race a little more interesting.

“Care to make a little wager?” he asked, and when Marco cocked his head in interest, he continued, “If I win, you go out with me.”

“What if I win?”

Ace grinned. “Then I’ll pay.”

His face mirroring Ace’s, Marco grabbed Ace’s outstretched hand and shook it. “Deal.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: ace busts into marco's apartment to borrow a tie for a wedding, requested by MyLadyDay
> 
> Three sentence fic

Marco almost fell out of bed when the door of his bedroom slammed open, but he groaned and covered his eyes with his arm when he saw it was Ace who had barged in, wearing nothing but boxers, because apparently it was perfectly okay to wander around the hallway of their building like that, and he groaned, “Dammit Ace, it is one thing when you confuse my appartment for yours when you’re drunk, but it’s seven o’ clock in the morning.”

“I’m not drunk now,” Ace said, his voice muffled because he was rummaging through Marco’s wardrobe, which was a surprise, as usually he would take any excuse to crawl into bed with Marco, despite the fact that they weren’t dating - to be honest, they might as well be, “I forgot I had to go to a wedding today, so I need to borrow a tie… and a suit.” Marco lifted up his arm to look at Ace, who turned around and smiled sheepishly before adding, “Also, I hope you have two suits, because I’m also gonna need a date.”


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "I told you we were lost!", requested by Lunarshores
> 
> Three sentence fic

“I told you we were lost,” Marco heard an unknown voice say, and he poked his head out of the tent that he shared with Thatch and Izo - who were snoring beside him - and that had been set up in the middle of the woods, so it was a surpise that they suddenly had company. 

Said company consisted of three men, two black haired and one blond, who were bickering, or at least two of them were, as the youngest looking one tried to catch a frog, when suddenly the man with freckles seemed to notice their camp and Marco’s head peeking out of the tent, and said, “Let’s ask this nice man,” just at the moment that the frog jumped on Marco’s head, and mere second later the black haired boy dove on him, causing Marco to fall against the canvas and taking the tent with him.

And that was how Marco ended up with a collapsed tent with two panicking brothers, a blond man scolding the frog catching boy, and a freckled man constantly apologising and bowing for his brother’s behaviour, but once the three strangers had introduced themselves and fixed the tent, and Marco found himself sitting next to Ace roasting marshmallows above a fire, he figured the night hadn’t turned out too bad after all.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: past, requested by ImperialMint
> 
> Three sentence fic

It had supposed to be innocent fun, a hitch hiking contest with Sabo and Luffy, to see who could reach St Petersburg the fastest by only means of hitch hiking, no trains or rented cars, and Ace was sure he hit the jackpot when he met Marco, an old friend whom Ace hadn’t seen in years nor knew what happened to him, who was by car and was going to St Petersburg; he was _so_ going to win. 

However, what he hadn’t expected was to be chased by several police cars which Marco tried to shake, because even though they were going fast, Ace doubted they would reach St Petersburg without crashing, but then again what had he expected when he stepped into the car of a notorious art thief - retired art thief, Marco corrected him, but Ace didn’t really care about semantics because Marco’s past had caught up with him. 

Though he was technically a hostage, Marco had offered to let him out of the car, but Sabo and Luffy would never let it go if Ace gave up on an adventure like this, nor would he forgive himself, even if this weren’t the cirumstances in which he had imagined a reunion with his old crush.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "Ace in a gang with Marco or not", requested by Bluesoilder4710
> 
> Three sentence fic

Marco had to see for himself if the rumours were true, rumours stating that another gang had appeared on their turf, but they were, apparently, as the leader - barely more than a kid - had attacked him as soon as he realised who Marco was, claiming he would take Pops’ place as gang leader. 

Some members of the new gang were rooting for the kid - Ace, Marco thought his name was - and Marco had to admit, the fight lasted longer than he had expected, which was a nice change from the small fry he usually fought. 

However, it couldn’t last, as Thatch would have his head if he missed dinner again, so Marco ended the fight by kicking Ace in the stomach, launching him against the wall of a building, though it couldn’t have hurt that bad, because Ace was already shouting for revenge, so Marco decided to indulge him, but only if he joined for dinner.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Pokémon Go ficlet for MyLadyDay, because she deserves it

The hype was interesting, but those games were not for him, he’d thought. He was too old for those, he’d thought. Hatura had explained to him how it worked, and while he had to admit the concept was interesting, he had never been a pokémon fan so he’d never start playing. He’d thought.

Yet somehow, he found himself outside, late at night, because the game said a dragonair was near. He knew the device was lying to him, as it had so many times before, but he couldn’t help himself. He was addicted to the game, and he wanted the pokémon so badly.

He could never tell his brothers about this, they would never let it rest. Marco was supposed to be responsible and level headed. How had it come so far?

Berating himself mentally, Marco sighed and decided to give up. Maybe he should let the game rest for a while. He was behind on work because he had been playing so often and it started to mess with his sleep schedule as well.

He was about to exit the game, when a charizard popped up on his screen. Almost immediately, it disappeared again when Marco walked past it. Halting and taking a few steps back, Marco was relieved to see it again. He loved fire pokémon the most, so he definitely wanted to catch it. It would be the last for today, he promised himself. Maybe even this week. Yes, he would definitely stop for a while after this, so it was okay to indulge for now.

Marco took a second to take in his surroundings. He was standing next to a large house that looked abandoned. It hadn’t been painted in a long time and the small front yard was covered in weeds. Marco moved his phone, but it appeared that the charizard was inside the gate.

The old hinges squeaked when he pushed the gate open, and Marco had to admit that if he didn’t know any better, the house definitely looked haunted. Marco looked around, but there was no one around, not a sign that pointed to someone living here.

Gulping, Marco walked to the front door and felt at it. It swung open easily. Inside, the house wasn’t as dusty as he would have expected from a place that hadn’t been lived in for years, though there were some cobwebs in the corners. The charizard was definitely inside, as Marco was now facing it in the empty hallway.

Just as he was about to throw a pokéball, he felt something that appeared to be a hand on his shoulder. With a yelp he would later deny, Marco almost dropped his phone as he whipped around.

Instead of a ghost, however, he was facing a very much alive young man with freckles covering his face, who looked at him curiously.

Marco, realising he had accidentally broken in, started a sentence several times, but his brain wasn’t able to make actual words. The man in front of him didn’t seem mad, though, just slightly amused. Eventually, Marco gave up and just sighed. “You know Pokémon Go?” He held up his phone.

The man blinked a few times, before he started laughing. “You’re after that charizard, right? Lu’s been trying to catch it too.”

“I thought the house was abandoned,” Marco stammered.

The man cocked his head to the side. “Hm? No, we live here. Me and my brothers, I mean.”

“Really? It looks kind of haunted,” Marco said carefully.

The man started to laugh. “Yeah, looks kind of cool, right? Though, to be honest, we just never get round to paint. Or work in the garden. Or you know, clean. But I’m not a ghost, look!” He placed his hand firmly on Marco’s shoulder and patted him a few times. “See? I’m not going through you.” He sounded so proud.

“You might want to think about locking your door,” Marco said, rubbing his painful shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it,” the man said. “Like you said, no one is stupid enough to try to rob a haunted house.” He paused for a moment. “Well, maybe except fervent Pokémon Go players.”


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Mylayday who requested Angel!Marco
> 
> Prompt: “You fainted…straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”, requested by anonymous
> 
> Warning: mentions of blood

Panting, Ace crouched down behind a tree. He didn’t think his pursuers would follow him all the way here. After all, who would willingly enter a forbidden forest of they didn’t have to? Certainly not Ace, had he not been forced by circumstances.

No one came this deep into the forest, which was why Ace had decided to hide out here. They said it was haunted, but Ace wasn’t afraid of ghosts. He feared people more. It had been people who hurt him and chased him away. It was people who called him a monster.

Ace lifted up his hands that he had pressed against the wound in his side. It was a nasty cut, and his hands were red with blood. He should have been able to avoid the pitchfork that was thrown at him, but a few days without food had made him slow. He should probably clean the wound.

Carefully, he peered around the tree, but there was no one to be seen. The forest was quiet. Ace used the tree to pull himself up, grabbing onto the bark to steady himself when he suddenly got dizzy. He really had to eat something. And stop the bleeding.

He remembered there was a small river nearby. There he could wash his wound and drink something. He took a step, but staggered again. He grabbed his forehead, shaking his head violently to clear his vision. That proved to be a mistake. His head throbbed and a wave of nausea washed over him. “Fuck, not now,” he muttered.

Black spots were dancing in front of his eyes. Pressing his hand against the wound in his side, Ace managed a few more steps, before his vision went black.

“You fainted straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention, you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”

The voice that spoke to him had a nice deep rumble, and Ace groaned softly as he carefully opened his eyes. He was lying in some stranger’s arms, but that wasn’t the oddest part. The man holding him up seemed to emit light.

“An angel,” Ace murmured. He immediately regretted saying that out loud. The guy much think he was crazy. Angels didn’t come down for just anyone, right?

“Is it that obvious?” the man asked, sounding amused.

Frowning, Ace blinked a few times, trying to process his words. Then he realised he was still lying in this man’s arms and hastened to straighten himself. “Uhm, thank you. I think,” he said, bowing to the man anyway.

 “You’re welcome.”

Ace staggered a little, but managed to remain on his feet this time. He took his time examining the man in front of him. Just the fact that he was in the middle of a deep dark forest was strange enough, but the odd garment he was wearing was still crisp and white. There weren’t even any bloodstains from Ace’s wound.

“Do you like it? It’s called a suit,” the man said, showing off his apparent ‘suit’. When Ace’s face remained blank, he sighed. “Just wait a couple of centuries. It’ll catch on.”

“Who are you?” Ace finally managed. “Why did you say you were an angel?”

“Because I am,” the man replied deadpanned, his hands in his pockets. “I’m your guardian angel. But you can call me Marco.”

“Great guardian angel you are,” Ace said with a snort. “Do you know how many times I almost died?”

“Ah, but you didn’t, did you?” Then Marco sighed. “I’m new at this, though. They always give the hardest tasks to the new guy, don’t they? Do you know how hard it is to keep you alive?”

Ace looked away. “I never asked to be chased by an angry mob.”

“You did not.” Marco sighed. “Well, let’s get you something to eat, shall we?”

Only then Ace remembered he was hungry. He also remembered the wound in his side, but when he checked to see how bad it was, the wound had disappeared. He looked at Marco confused.

He just shrugged with a grin. “Bloodstains are hard to remove. Come on.”

Ace decided not to ask how Marco knew the way to his hideout. As guardian angel, he would probably always have to know where Ace was. And considering how good he looked in his weird suit, Ace didn’t really mind that much. Besides, it was nice to know he was in good hands.


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for day 3 of the MarcoAce week 2016 with the theme Laugh

As he eyed the clock, Ace’s eyes widened when he saw what time it was. He straightened the ridiculous paper hat he was forced to wear when he was working in the snack bar and turned around. “Sabo, how’s my hair?”

“Fabulous,” Sabo replied without looking at Ace, as he was just lowering fries into the deep fryer.

Ace made a displeased sound. He had to look his best. Every other Friday, like clockwork, a certain hot blond guy entered the snack bar and ordered a ridiculous amount of fries and snacks. Ace had been flirting with him like his life depended on it, and at certain times, he thought the man flirted right back. At other times, however, he just merely seemed polite.

No matter which was the case, though, Ace still hadn’t caught his name, and he was determined to find out today.

“Sabo!” he snapped. When he finally had his attention, he straightened his hat again. “How do I look?”

Sabo sighed deeply. “Greasy and tired. Will you let me work now? We have customers.”

Ace’s shoulders slumped. He felt greasy and tired, but that didn’t mean he had to _look_ the part. It didn’t matter, though, as it was eight exactly and the bell above the door chimed as if practiced.

Ace plastered a pleasant smile on his face and turned around to great his hot blond man, but his face fell when he saw it was someone else. Was his guy late? He was never late. Frowning, Ace looked past his customer through the window outside, but it was dark and he couldn’t see much.

“Ehm, hi!” his current customer, a man with a pompadour-like hairstyle, said.

With a sigh, Ace welcomed him monotonously and stood ready at the cash register to take his order.

“I would like fries for fifteen people and…”

As the man rattled off his order, Ace’s eyes widened slightly. This was the exact same order as his blond always made! Was this guy one of the people in hot blond guy’s circle?

“Wait, wait,” Ace said when the man was mid-order.

He looked up from his list. “Was I going too fast?”

“No, no. Do you happen to know a hot blond guy?” Ace blurted out, only realising too late how inappropriate that was to ask a customer.

The man frowned. “Ehm, no.” When Ace’s face fell, the man suddenly seemed to realise something. “Oh, I suppose you could mean Marco.”

Ace’s face brightened. His hot blond was called Marco? Ace liked that. It suited him.

“He usually gets the fries.” Suddenly, it was the man’s turn to light up. “Oh, so _you_ ’re Marco’s Ace!”

For a second, Ace wondered how Marco could have known his name, until he realised his name was always on the receipt, not to mention he was wearing a name tag. Only then it came through to him that this meant that Marco had talked about him. “I am?” he asked.

“I pretty sure you are. He talks about you non-stop. I mean, we may have dragged it out of him, but it was pretty clear something was up when he insisted to get food every time.” The man laughed and held out his hand. “I’m Thatch, by the way.”

Ace took his hand. “Ace, but you already know that.”

Thatch laughed. “I do. I also know you’ve been flirting with my brother – Marco is my brother,” he hastily added when he saw Ace’s confused face. “He would have come today, but he twisted his ankle, so he is not supposed to walk. Anyway, I’m pretty sure he would have asked you out already if you met when you weren’t working. You’re welcome to join us for dinner. You know, if you aren’t sick of deep-fried food yet.”

Ace could never be sick of any food, and with pleading eyes, he looked at Sabo, who sighed deeply.

“Go. I can manage around here.”

“Thank you! You’re the best!” Ace took off his hat and ran from behind the counter, until he realised he still had to prepare Thatch’s order. Sheepishly, he put his hat back on. Maybe he was a little nervous of meeting Marco outside of work for the first time.

With enough fries and snacks to feed an orphanage, Ace accompanied Thatch to his house. He couldn’t stop fidgeting with his hair, and before Thatch opened the door, Ace grabbed his arm. “How’s my hair?”

Thatch studied him for a while, before he said, “Black.”

Ace made a frustrated sound. “Why are men so useless at this?!”

“What do you want me to say? It’s not nearly as awesome as mine,” Thatch said with a shrug and placed a hand on Ace’s shoulder. “Relax, he already likes you.”

That actually did wonders for his nerves, and excitedly, Ace all but skipped after Thatch into the house.

Marco was sitting on the couch, one foot up, which was wrapped in a compress, reading a book. When he looked up to see who had entered, his eyes widened when he saw Ace and he immediately started fixing his hair.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already been told that I look greasy and tired, so you don’t have to look your best either,” Ace hastily said.

“Really? Then I can’t imagine how good you would look all freshened up,” Marco replied.

A grin grew on Ace’s face. “You’re flirting! That was flirting,” he told a random stranger who was standing next to him.  

“I’m so happy for you,” said person replied deadpanned.

“I believe you started it,” Marco replied, his expression mirroring Ace’s.

“And you can continue all night, but the food’s getting cold,” Thatch interrupted before Ace could say anything else. “Will you just hurry up and ask him out already? I don’t care which one goes first.”

“I’ll ask, but I first need to know what happened here.” Ace gestured to Marco’s bandaged foot.

Marco smiled sheepishly. “I wasn’t paying attention where I was going and tripped over the kerb.”

“Maybe you need someone to keep you upright then,” Ace said with a smirk.

Thatch rolled his eyes. “I thought I said enough with the flirting!”

“Right. Will you go out with me? I’m Ace, by the way,” Ace hastily added, realising they hadn’t been formally introduced.

“Marco.” Marco smiled. “And I’d love to.”


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks MyLadyDay for beta'ing

Marco combed his hand through his hair for what had to be the umpteenth time that night as he took a deep breath to muster up the courage to press on the doorbell. Before he could, though, the door already flung open, revealing Ace in all his glory and then some. Marco instantly became weak in the knees.

“Let’s go!” Ace said with a grin and grabbed Marco’s wrist as he pulled him along to Marco’s car. At least he seemed enthusiastic.

It had taken Marco months before he had finally asked Ace out. He had never been able to talk to Ace, so the asking out had been rather awkward and Marco had never expected in a million year for Ace to say yes. Or rather “Sure, why not?”, but Marco took it as a win.

“Where are we going?” Ace asked as he strapped himself into his seatbelt.

“The Baratie,” Marco replied. It was the most expensive restaurant in town and Marco would have to live on bread and water for at least a week after this, but it would be worth it if it would impress Ace. That seemed to be the case as he whistled.

A waiter brought them to their seats at the restaurant and Marco was desperately trying to think of something to say, when his eye suddenly caught a glimpse of two familiar figures at another table. He turned his head and the figures dove behind their menus, but Thatch’s pompadour still stuck out above it. Marco groaned.

“Is something wrong?” Ace asked.

“No, no,” Marco said hastily and pulled out Ace’s chair so he could sit down.

Ace smiled. “You’re a gentleman, aren’t you?”

Marco smiled sheepishly and walked over to his own seat, casting a warning glance at the table where Izo and Thatch were sitting. He should have never told them when his date with Ace was or where, but he had been so excited that Ace had agreed that Izo hardly had any trouble pulling it out of him. They knew how much Marco liked Ace, which was no doubt the reason they were here now, as they also knew Marco incapability to make coherent sentences around Ace.

A silence fell at their table, and Marco was grateful when the waiter came to inquire about their drinks and to hand them the menus. From the corner of his eye, he saw something moving and he almost facepalmed when he saw that Thatch was holding up a sign that said “ _So tell me about yourself_ ”. Did they really think he was so pathetic that he, an adult, couldn’t start a light conversation with another adult?

“So tell me something about yourself,” he said.

Ace looked up from his menu. “Sure. What do you wanna know?”

“Er…” Desperately, he glanced over Ace’s shoulder at the table where Izo and Thatch were sitting. Izo scribbled something down and held up the paper. ‘ _Hobbies_ ’, it read, indicating that they could hear everything Ace and Marco said.

“What do you like to do?” Marco asked. “For fun, I mean.”

As Ace perked up and started to tell how he liked to go on adventures with his brothers, Thatch held up another sign, pointing at it. ‘ _Brothers_ ’. Obviously, Ace loved to talk about his brothers, so Marco could have thought of asking more about that subject himself. He wondered if he would have.

Their conversation actually went naturally, and Marco had to look at his brothers less and less to come up with ways to steer the conversation. That didn’t stop them from trying, though, and they almost climbed on the table pointing at their signs – two different ones of course – as they seemed to compete to what Marco should say. However, when Ace excused himself to go to the bathroom, they both hid the papers and pretended to be in engrossed in conversation. Marco facepalmed for real.

He waited until Ace had disappeared from sight, before making his way over to Thatch and Izo. “Will you knock it off now?!” he asked in a low voice. “Thank you for caring, but it’s actually going well. Now leave before he finds out you’re here for me.”

“But we just ordered dessert,” Izo said, “which you’re paying for, by the way.”

Marco’s mouth fell open and he was about to protest, but at that moment, Ace returned. “This is not over,” Marco hissed and hastened himself to his own table.

Ace looked a little confused as he too his seat again. “Were you going somewhere?” he asked.

“No, no, of course not,” Marco said hastily. “But…” He eyed Thatch’s and Izo’s table. “What do you say we go somewhere else for dessert? I know a nice little ice cream place close by.”

Ace grinned. “Sure!”

Marco beckoned the waiter and had trouble not stick out his tongue at Thatch and Izo who looked horrified at him. They looked around bewildered, no doubt to look for another waiter, but Marco had already helped Ace into his coat by the time they were presented with their dessert.

As quickly as he could without being suspicious, Marco led Ace to the ice cream store. After ordering, they made their way to the park, chatting and licking their ice cream. Marco noted, much to his surprise, not only that Ace walked a lot closer to him that strictly necessary, but more importantly, that he himself was still perfectly capable of saying intelligent things.

They sat down on a bench and Marco let Ace finish his ice cream. When Ace had devoured it, he leaned against Marco’s shoulder. “You know, this was a lot more fun than I expected. Don’t take this the wrong way, but since you don’t talk a lot to me, I figured it might be a long evening. So I’m glad you showed another side of yourself.”

Marco smiled sheepishly, but that smile disappeared when Ace leaned in to kiss him. Before spending more time with Ace, Marco was sure he would have melted. However, after tonight, he could now see Ace as a normal person instead of some handsome god.

They let go of each other and Ace crept a little closer, smiling. Marco mirrored his expression and reached out to caress hair out of Ace’s face, when he saw two figures running towards them. They dove in the bushes right away, before Ace saw them, and almost immediately a sign stuck up, saying, ‘ _Kiss him_ ’.

“I already did,” Marco said with a sigh.

Ace looked up confusedly. “Who are you talking to?” The sign immediately disappeared back in the bushes when he started to look around.

Marco sighed again, rose, and led out his hand to Ace. “I need to show you something.”

Still confused, Ace took his hand and allowed himself to be led towards the bushes. Marco pushed aside the branches, revealing Thatch and Izo, who smiled at them sheepishly.

“Ace, these are my brothers, Thatch and Izo,” Marco introduced them.

Ace still looked puzzled. “But they are the cute couple from the restaurant.”

“Do you hear that, Izo? We’re cute,” Thatch said with a grin.

“Of course we are.”

Marco cleared his throat. “They knew I was nervous for this date so they followed us to help me out and keep the conversation going, because I had trouble talking to you. I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you.”

The silence that followed was agonising as Ace looked from him to Thatch and Izo, who were still sitting in the bushes. Then, Ace started laughing.

“That’s actually really cute,” he said. “I did notice that the conversation seemed to go more natural after a while, though.”

“Then I got the hang of it,” Marco admitted.

Ace chuckled and grabbed Marco’s arm, turning to Thatch and Izo. “You should have more faith in your brother. He is _very_ charming.”

“Please,” Izo said with a snort, “ _we’_ re the charming ones.”


	39. Chapter 39

The doorbell rang, and Ace paused his movie to drag himself off the couch to see who was at the doorstep, brushing off the crumbs that had fallen on his clothes while he was up.

Peeping through the spyhole in the door, though, almost caused him to have a heart attack. Of course it had to be Marco, looking sexy as fuck. To be fair, Ace may be a bit biased at that point, considering that he couldn’t even see Marco that well through the peephole. Still, Marco always looked good, even when he had just come out of bed, his hair touseled and his abs pulling taut when he stretched…

Okay, so maybe Ace had a bit of a crush on his roommate’s boyfriend.

Trying to fix his hair and clothes as much as possible, Ace opened the door. “Hey,” he said cheerfully. It sounded fake, even to him.

“Hey,” Marco greeted him back. If he had noticed anything, he didn’t show it.

“Robin’s not here yet.” Ace leaned against the doorframe, trying to look cool and casual.

Marco sighed. “Again? We agreed to meet tonight. Why do I even bother anymore?”

No matter how much Ace liked Marco, he loved Robin more as his friend. “Come on, you know she’s busy with that exhibition.”

“Yeah.” Marco combed with his hand through his hair, and Ace had trouble not to bit his lip. “I know, but it happens a lot lately. She could call.”

“She’s busy. Come on,” Ace said as Marco made to leave, pulling him inside by his arm. “I’m watching a movie. You should join me until Robin gets here.” Okay, maybe it was a little for him too.

Especially when Marco smiled. “I’d like that.”

“I have popcorn!” Ace dashed towards the couch. He had mixed feelings about the whole situation. On the one hand, he was on cloud nine right now. Being alone with Marco was like a dream coming true. On the other hand, he was alone with Marco. He didn’t think he stood a chance, despite the fact that Marco had casually remarked one time that he was bi, a small fact Ace’s brain wouldn’t let him forget. Still, Marco would never cheat on Robin, even if he was pissed at her for standing him up.

Besides, there was a decent chance that Ace would make an ass off himself.

Taking a few deep, calming breaths, Ace tried not to focus on the fact that Marco was sitting rather close, especially when Marco placed his arm on the back of the couch behind Ace. In an attempt to distract himself, Ace reached for the popcorn, but of course Marco had to do the same and their fingers brushed together.

Ace’s brain helpfully reminded him that pulling his hand away would look suspicious, so instead, he grabbed a hand full of popcorn and shoved in his mouth, smiling at Marco in what should be a disgusting manner.

However, Marco chuckled, causing Ace’s stomach to do flip flops. He was so screwed.

The air was tense, and Ace wondered if it was just him. He didn’t remember it being like this before. Not that he spend a lot of time alone with Marco. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if Marco maybe overheard him saying something that made his feelings clear. After all, he had been whining a lot to Sabo and Luffy. Would Marco know?

Ace discarded that thought. If that was the case, he would have declined watching a movie together, or would be sitting further away from Ace. It was all in Ace’s head.

He didn’t remember falling asleep, but when he opened his eyes, he noticed that he had been using Marco’s chest as a pillow. Ace jumped up like a cat hit by a bucket of water.

“H-hey! Sorry, I fell asleep.”

“I noticed,” Marco said, amused.

“If I’d been a murderer, I could have disposed of your bodies and cleaned the crime scene by now,” Robin’s voice suddenly sounded.

Ace’s eyes widened as he turned to where Robin was taking off her coat. How much had she seen? How much did she know?

“That’s all you’ve got for me?” Marco asked, sounding not amused now, and rose from the couch.

“You didn’t look like you missed me much.”

It didn’t sound accusing at all, more as a statement of a fact, but Ace could still feel his stomach turn.

“That’s not the point. You could have called to tell me you were working late again,” Marco said.

Ace didn’t want to be there. While neither Marco nor Robin had raised their voices, it was obviously a fight. “I should go,” Ace muttered and fled to his room.

* * *

The sun was shining through his curtains when Ace opened his eyes. He must have fallen asleep again.

Worried about Robin and Marco, Ace hastened himself to the living room. Robin was sitting at the dinner table, sipping from her coffee and reading the paper.

“Is Marco here?” Ace asked carefully.

“Good morning. He is not. He left last night.”

There had been no yelling, no slamming with doors, or Ace would have heard it. “So… Did you guys make up?” he asked almost inaudibly.

Robin folded the paper and rose. “Sort of. But we also broke up.”

Ace sunk down on a chair next to her. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s quite alright. Now he’s all yours.”

Ace looked up, his eyes wide. Again, there was no malice in her voice, nothing accusing, In fact, there was a small smile on her lips.

“What?!” Ace finally managed to shriek, after having started several sentences. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” His voice sounded strange and high, but he couldn’t help it. He was an awful liar.

Robin just rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’m late for work.”

* * *

Ace wondered if he made the right decision by going to see Marco, but he also needed to know how he was doing. Robin had taken the break up very well and she claimed they were still friends, but everybody said that, right? Ace just wanted to know if Marco was alright.

He had barely rung the doorbell when the door was opened. Marco looked good, _really_ good. “Hey,” he greeted Ace.

“Hey.” Ace started to feel nervous again. “I haven’t seen you in a while, so I was wondering how you were.”

“I’m good.”

“No, I mean, how are you _really_?” Ace pressed.

“I’m _good_. Honestly.”

Marco did sound convincing, so Ace decided to believe him. “Well, okay then. Bye, I guess.” As he turned to leave, though, Marco grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside.

“Come on, I missed you. Let’s finish watching that movie during which you fell asleep.”

Ace probably didn’t put up as much resistance as he should, considering Marco was still Robin’s ex. Before he knew it, he was sitting on the couch, wondering if he was imagining it, or was Marco really sitting even closer than he had last time. Carefully, he turned his head to look at Marco, who smiled at him.

Suddenly, Marco leaned in and brushed his lips against Ace’s.

Ace’s brain short-circuited, but his body moved on its own when he grabbed the back of Marco’s head to pull him close. Only when his brain caught up with the situation, he pushed Marco away. “No!” he exclaimed.

“No?” Marco asked.

“Yes. I mean no!” Ace hastily said, but then sighed when he saw Marco’s confused face. “You’re Robin’s ex.”

“Yes?” Marco asked.

“Yeah, well, isn’t it worse to be crushing on your best friend’s ex than on their boyfriend?” Ace muttered. He immediately wanted to hit his head against the wall for saying that out loud.

Marco smiled, though. “Ace, Robin and I are friends. Hasn’t she told you?”

“Yeah, but… Isn’t that what everyone says?” Ace flung back.

“We actually are. I’m serious,” Marco continued when he saw Ace’s sceptical face. “She was here just a few hours ago.”

“To pick up her things?”

“To hang out. Ace, she and I have been friends a long time. We just dragged out our romantic relationship too long.” Marco smiled again. “I realised a little late that I’ve been crushing on you for a while as well.”

“But what about Robin?”

“She’s fine with it. We talked about it at length. She even said she had already given you a push.” Marco gently brushed some hair from Ace’s face. “I may be wrong here, but I got the feeling you might like me. And not just because you admitted you had a crush on me.”

Slowly, a grin crept up Ace’s face. “Well, if Robin’s okay with it…” He didn’t give Marco the chance to reply as he jumped him and started to kiss him senseless.


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: “I’m pregnant”, requested by Vergina-spva
> 
> No M-preg, but sad

Why he had thought it was a good idea to clean out the attic, Ace would never know. It was dusty and there was so much stuff he had no idea what to do with. Fortunately, Marco had agreed to help him, and if Marco was anything, he was organised. He forced Ace to decide if he wanted to keep stuff or throw it away.

By now, three quarters of what had been in the attic had been brought to a second hand store or the dump in case it had been broken, and Ace was up to the final few boxes. The one he was currently rummaging through held baby things – his baby things – from rompers to rattlers. At the bottom of the box, he found a rectangle thing, made of black plastic.

“What’s this?” he asked Marco, who was sorting out a different box, holding up the item.

“It’s a VHS tape,” Marco replied, mildly amused.

Ace stared at him blankly.

“Like a DVD,” Marco explained, “but an older version. Do you remember DVDs?”

“Barely.” Ace laughed. “Sometimes I forget how old you are.”

Marco gave him a deadpanned look. “I will punch you.”

Ace laughed again, but then looked at the tape again. “What do you think is on there?”

“There is no label?”

Ace shook his head.

“Only one way to find out then.” Marco rose and dusted off his clothes. “We have to watch it.”

“You have a player for this?” Ace asked, excited.

“I’m not _that_ old,” Marco snapped. “But Pops does have one.”

* * *

Pops welcomed them with open arms, as he always did, even the first time when Ace was introduced to Marco’s family. It was nice, and Pops had been the most like a father figure Ace had. Except for Gramps, maybe.

As Marco had said, Pops had a VHR in his living room – Ace really had to introduce him to Netflix sometime. Marco popped in the tape and had to _rewind_ it, before they could watch. Fortunately, Pop’ VHR was modern enough to have a remote control, but only barely.

Marco made himself comfortable next to Ace on the couch, while Pops was in his rocking chair, and pressed play.

The image of  a living room appeared on the screen. By the looks of it, it was a homemade movie, considering the camera was shaken a lot. A sound came from somewhere, and the camera turned to that point. A woman entered the room, dressed in a dressing gown and her hair tousled like she just got out of bed. Her hair had a light pink colour and freckles adorned her face.

Ace grabbed Marco’s hand when he recognised his mother, squeezing it. He only knew her face from photographs, so to see her alive, walking around and talking, was surreal. He liked her voice, though.

Rouge looked up when she noticed the camera. “You’d better not be recording right now,” she said, though her voice sounded more amused than threatening.

“I wouldn’t dare, my love,” a male voice said, no doubt the person holding the camera. Was that Ace’s father?

“Then why is the red light on?”

The camera moved, showing a man’s face with a large black moustache in the screen as the cameraman turned the camera around. “What do you know,” Roger said, aiming the camera back at Rouge. “Well, as long as I’m filming, I should capture the magnificence you are.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“It got me in your pants last night.”

Rouge laughed, and Ace made a face. He did not need to know that about his parents.

“Did you remember to put in a tape this time?” Rouge asked.

“I’m pretty sure I did,” Roger replied. “I want to capture the important moments.”

Rouge paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about something. “In that case,” she finally said, “there is something I need to tell you.”

“What is it, my darling? You can tell us anything.” The film zoomed in on Rouge, taking a moment to focus.

“Us? You mean you and the camera? Should I be worried?” she asked teasingly and then sighed in mock resignation. “Boys and their toys.”

“Don’t keep me waiting!” Roger said, sounding impatient and excited. “What do you have to tell me?”

Rouge smiled, turning to the camera. “I’m pregnant.”

For a moment, nothing happened, but then the camera fell on the floor. Through the cracked screen, Ace could barely see Roger throwing himself at Rouge, kissing her, before the screen became black.

Ace smiled, reaching for the remote to turn off the TV, when a new film started – no doubt with a different camera. Rouge was in the kitchen in front of the stove, stirring in a pan.

“You look radiant, my dear,” Roger’s voice said.

Rouge turned around. Her belly was visibly swollen by now and she absolutely beamed.

The camera turned and Roger’s face came into the frame. “You see that?” he asked the camera. “That’s you.” He aimed the camera back to Rouge, zooming in on her stomach. “My child,” he added proudly.

“Our child,” Rouge said, sounding amused. “And I’m doing most of the work.”

“Of course, my love, I could never do what you to.”

Rouge laughed.

The movie ended again, showing a black and white screen, but this time, Ace waited patiently. There was a distortion once more, and Roger’s face became visibly again. He looked pale and sweaty, seemingly holding the camera himself as he was lying in what appeared to be a hospital bed. There was a steady beeping sound in the background, made by one of the machines he was attached to.

“Hello, son,” he said, smiling tiredly. “I hope you will see this one day, because there is a lot I need to tell you.” He started to cough, which did not sound good. “Take good care of you mom,” he said, “because she will take amazing care of you. Because that’s what she is.”

“Roger!” Rouge’s voice called from outside the screen, and Roger looked up, still aiming the camera at himself. He smiled again, though it seemed to cost him a lot of effort.

“Hello, my queen.”

“You should not extort yourself,” Rouge said, coming into the frame. “What are you doing?”

“I wanted to make a video for our son.”

Rouge disappeared from the screen and the camera moved as she took over. “What do you want to tell him?”

Roger remained silent for a moment. “There was a lot I wanted to say,” he then said. “But I don’t think it’s necessary. Everything I could teach him, you can do so much better. He’s lucky to have you.”

“Don’t say that, my love,” Rouge whispered. “He needs you. I need you.”

Roger leaned back against his pillow, smiling. “You’re so strong, my love. That’s good. I know I don’t need to worry about my boy when he has you.”

He opened his eyes again. “I’ve been thinking about names. I like Ace. That’s a nice name, isn’t it?”

“It’s a wonderful name,” Rouge whispered. “A name you can give him yourself. I’m due in only two more weeks, Roger. You’ll see him. You’ll see Ace.”

Roger hummed, his eyelids slipping shut again. “Ace,” he whispered, the beeping sound in the background slowing down, “my son.”

A long, monotonous beep sounded.

“Roger?” Rouge asked, panicking, the camera still in her hand forgotten. “Roger, my love? Roger!”

Doctors and nurses came rushing in, pushing Rouge aside as they tried to bring Roger back. A nurse came into the frame, walking towards Rouge. “Ma’am, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.”

“But Roger,” she started, but the nurse gently pushed her out of the room. The camera lowered, showing the hospital wall, before the screen became black.

Ace kept staring at the TV, long after the film had ended. He wasn’t sure when or why he had started crying. Was it because his mom had looked so happy with her little family? Or when Roger had said he wouldn’t have to worry about Ace as long as he had Rouge? He had never had her, she died when he was born because of complications.

Nothing his parents had hoped for had come true.

Warm arms wrapped themselves around him and pulled him close. New tears welled up in his eyes, and he buried his face in Marco’s chest as his shoulders shook.

There was a sound coming from the television, and Ace looked over his shoulder. His mother’s face came into view. She was lying in bed, looking tired, but happy. “Hello, darling,” she said, a soft smile on her face. “You’re about to come into the world.” Her face twisted in pain and she took short breaths. “Suddenly, you seem to be in a hurry,” she said, laughing, but then her face turned sad. “I wish your father could be here. He was a good man, Ace, just like I know you’ll be. And most importantly, I want you to be happy, and free to live your life the way you want to. I’ll try to be there for you, but if I can’t, promise me you’ll be happy. That’s all I want for you.” Her face twisted in pain again and she groaned.

“It’s time, Rouge,” a female voice said, the doctor or midwife, no doubt.

Rouge nodded, sweat glistening on her forehead. “See you on the other side,” she whispered, and the screen turned black again.


	41. Chapter 41

The doorbell rang, and Ace almost dropped the pile of freshly washed clothes he was holding. “He’s here already? Mom, why is he here already?”

Rouge smiled, putting down the book she hadn’t read a letter from in the past hour because Ace had been running around nervously. Well, a first date with someone you like very much will do that to you. “Probably because you agreed to meet at seven,” she eyed the clock, “and it’s seven. He’s punctual.”

“How do I look?”

“You look great, honey.”

Ace let out a frustrated sound. “You only say that because you’re my mom.”

“You asked your mom.”

“There is no one else here!”

Rouge chuckled. He was so cute when he was nervous.

“I’m not ready yet, so he can’t be here!” Ace threw the clothes onto the couch and started rummaging through them. “He can’t see me like this! You open the door.” Frantically, he picked up the clothes again and ran towards the stairs, stopping in his tracks. “And don’t embarrass me!”

“Honey, I’m your mother,” Rouge said, walking towards the door. “I take care of you when you’re sick and I embarrass you in front of future boyfriends. It’s in my job description.”

Ace made a frustrated sound and seemed to contemplate stopping her from answering the door, but her hand was already on the doorknob. Instead, he bolted upstairs.

Rouge chuckled and opened the door before Marco would think no one was home. He was a handsome man, especially now that he was wearing a blazer. Rouge had to admit her son had good taste.

Marco smiled at her. “Hello, Ms Portgas.”

“Hello, Marco, please come in.” She stepped aside to let him pass. “Ace needs a few more moments.”

“Thank you.” He followed her inside, looking around the living room.

“You’ll have to forgive him. He was ready, but then decided it wasn't perfect after all,” Rouge said, sitting down on the couch and gesturing for Marco to take a seat as well, which he did. “He’s really nervous about tonight,” she added with a teasing smirk.

Marco let out a laugh, combing with a hand through his blond hair. “I have to admit I’m a little nervous myself.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why? You boys obviously like each other. In fact, Ace has not stopped talking about you since you two met. Which is why it surprised me it took you so long to ask him out.”

“I guess it took me a while to realise he liked me too.”

“So, you’re dense,” Rouge said with a serious face.

“Mom!” Ace’s voice came from upstairs.

Marco laughed again. “That’s okay. I deserved that. I suppose I am.”

“Well, what’s important is that you’re now finally going out. That is, if Ace remembers how to put on pants,” Rouge said, picking up her knitting work.

“I remember how to put on pants! I’ve put on like twenty pairs of them already!” Ace yelled back.

“Then pick one and go already! If you’re not down here in twenty seconds, I’ll make Marco take _me_ out!” she called back.

As expected, Ace all but fell down the stairs – because he knew his mother so well, and knew she would do as she said. Rouge chuckled as he tried to compose himself before Marco, flushed embarrassed. Marco was a lucky man, she hoped he realised that.

“Alright honey, time to go.” She ushered them out of the door. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Ace looked over his shoulder, shooting her a deadpanned look. “Really? That’s the advice you give? That’s not exactly a high standard, now is it? Remember, you told me how you and dad met.”

Her and her big mouth. “Yes, yes,” she hastily said. “Just have fun, okay?”

Ace took her hand, squeezing it briefly. “We will. Bye, mom.”

As they walked towards Marco’s car, Rouge leaned against the doorway, sighing deeply. They did grow up fast.


	42. Chapter 42

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the previous chapter.

“Thanks for bringing me back home,” Ace said, turning towards Marco in the car. He made a face. “Well, my _mom’s_ home. It’s just that things are a little hard right now and­-”

Marco lifted up his hand. “It’s a tough economy. You’ve nothing to be embarrassed about.”

He opened the door and stepped out of the car, walking around it to probably open the door for Ace, but Ace noticed too late and already stepped out himself. They stood across from each other for a moment, slightly awkward, until Marco cleared his throat.

“Do you think your mom is still up?”

Ace rolled his eyes. “I don’t doubt it. She’ll probably want to know every little detail.”

Marco laughed. “Your mom sounds great.”

“She is,” Ace said, smiling softly as Marco walked him to the door. “I think she likes you too.”

Marco smiled at him, leaning against the doorframe. “That’s nice. It saves me the trouble of winning her over.”

“I had fun tonight, though,” Ace said, grinning as he bit his lip.

“Me too.”

“Are you gonna kiss me?”

Marco smiled again. “I was planning on it.”

He leaned in, but before their lips could meet, the door swung open.

“I thought I heard voices.”

“Mom!” Ace exclaimed, thoroughly embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, is this a bad time?” Rouge looked from one to the other as Marco was still leaning close to Ace, frozen in place.  Rouge was trying to hide the grin that was growing on her face, failing miserably. “You were going to kiss, weren’t you? I’ll leave you boys to it then.” She shut the front door.

Ace sighed deeply. “Well, that ruined the moment.”

“The great thing about moments is, though,” Marco said, “they may be fleeting, but they come around again.”

Ace fought the grin, succeeding only when Marco pressed his lips against his. Way too soon, though, Marco pulled back again, kissing Ace’s knuckles briefly before he turned to leave. Over his shoulder he called, “Call me!”

Ace remained standing in front of the door for a while, long after Marco had driven off, grinning like an idiot. Finally, he had himself enough under control to go inside.

Rouge put her book down when he walked into the living room. “So, did you have fun?” she asked. Her eyes were glistening like she knew exactly what the answer would be.

It was useless to pretend otherwise, so Ace stop fighting the grin on his face and let himself fall on the couch, hugging a pillow.

Rouge chuckled. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Yeah,” Ace said, sighing, “it was a lot of fun.”

“My, you act like a schoolboy with a crush,” Rouge said, amused. “Should I expect notebooks filled with your name followed with his last name?”

Ace laughed. “Sure. Ace Newgate. That would be rich!”

Rouge suddenly fell silent. “I’m sorry, what?”

“What?” Ace asked, confused.

“Did you just say Newgate?”

“Yeah?” Ace still didn’t know where she was going. “Why? Do you know him?”

Out of nowhere, Rouge suddenly burst into laughter. “That’s amazing! He is dating a Newgate!” she called to no one in particular – not to Ace, anyway. “ Of all people!”

“Mom! What’s so funny? Why do you care about Marco’s last name?”

Rouge was desperately trying to calm herself now, wiping tears from her eyes. “You’ll see,” she said, hiccupping, as she reached for the phone.

“Mom?” Ace asked, but she shushed him by placing her finger against her lips.

The phone was on speaker, and Ace could hear the beeping tone until it was suddenly picked up.

“Hello?” a deep, male voice said.

“Hello Edward,” Rouge said, “it’s Rouge.”

“Rouge, my dear, it’s been too long!” Edward exclaimed.

“It sure has. Say, I’m calling because we seem to have something in common.”

“Do we now? And what’s that?”

A grin appeared on her face as she eyes Ace. “Sons-in-law. It appears that your eldest is dating my son.”

“Hello Pops,” Marco’s voice suddenly sounded. Edward apparently had it on speaker phone as well. “I’m sorry, are you calling?”

“Hello Marco,” Rouge said.

“Oh, hello, Ms Portgas,” Marco stammered, caught off guard.

“Ace was just telling me you last name, so I had to call an old friend,” Rouge continued.

“Oh.” Marco seemed to be as lost as Ace. “I didn’t know you knew Pops.”

“Well, I know him through Ace’s father,” Rouge continued as a sly grin grew on her face. “Roger Gol.”

It sounded like Marco spat out whatever he had been drinking and started coughing.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then,” Rouge said. “Have a lovely evening.”

“Don’t be a stranger,” Edward said before hanging up.

“I still don’t understand,” Ace said. “Why does Marco know dad? And who is this Edward?”

“Oh, honey, I suppose you were still too young when your father died. But Edward Newgate, the man you just heard, was his nemesis.”

“Nemesis?”

“Well, they liked to call each other that. I suppose frenemies would be a better word for it. I don’t doubt Edward has told Marco all about it. I just find it very amusing that of all people, you end up with his son.”

Ace turned red. “Not end up,” he sputtered. But then his face turned serious. “So, you think dad would have disapproved of me and Marco?”

“On the record, yes. I have no doubt he would have made a whole show of disapproving of it. But in reality?” She wrapped an arm around Ace’s shoulder. “I think he would have been delighted.”


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "If I win, you get to be my prize / I'm gonna kis- kick your ass!", Marco/Ace, requested by Authentic Aussie

As Marco walked down the gangway, he would have been surprised to see Ace stretch as if he were going to run a marathon, only hardly anything his brothers did could surprise him these days. However, when Ace called him over, he did raise his eyebrows.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Are you ready?” Ace replied with a grin, stretching his legs.

“Ready for what?”

Ace sighed as if he was asked a stupid question. “For our competition, obviously.”

“What competition?”

“Duh. It’s our turn to hunt for food, right? So we do who can bring back the most.”

“Shouldn’t we just make sure we get enough for the crew?” Marco countered.

“You’re no fun. I can’t believe the great Marco is afraid a rookie will beat him,” Ace said, suddenly raising his voice so that the crewmembers currently working in the area turned towards them.

Marco gave Ace a deadpanned look. “Do you really think that’s gonna work on me?”

Ace sighed. “Ugh, fine. Please indulge me? Pretty please?”

Marco rolled his eyes. “Fine. We’ll do it your way.”

“Yes!” Ace exclaimed. “I’m so gonna kis- kick your ass!”

Marco looked up. “What?”

“What?”

“Did you say you were gonna kiss me?” Marco asked, a smirk creeping up his face.

Ace snorted. “No. Why would I say that? You must be going deaf, old man. Who’d wanna kiss you? Well, someone might, but certainly not me, no sir! I’ve got better things to do.”

“Ace?” Marco interrupted him.

“Yeah?”

“You’re babbling.”

“Am I? Or am I just distracting you?” Ace countered.

“Distracting me from what?”

“Kicking your ass of course! One, two three, go!” And he was off.

Rolling his eyes, Marco set off in pursuit, not even bothering transforming as he caught up with Ace easily enough.

“Get ready to bite the dust, old man!” Ace called over his shoulder. “I’ve been hunting animals ten times my size since I was a child!”

“I don’t doubt your capabilities,” Marco replied. “But we haven’t talked about the stakes.”

Ace suddenly braked, leaving tracks in the ground. “Stakes?”

Marco stopped next to him. “Sure. What do I get when I win?”

Ace shrugged. “What do you want?”

A smirk appeared on Marco’s face. “I want you to admit that you like me.”

“What?” It came out higher than Ace had intended. “I don’t… Why would I admit to that?”

Marco shrugged. “You asked what I wanted. If I win, you get to be my prize.”

Ace narrowed his eyes. “And what would I get if _I_ win?”

If possible, Marco’s grin grew even further. “You get to kiss me.”


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Christmas!fic

The office Christmas party always quite a bit of a mess at Whitebeard Inc., but one mess Marco didn’t want to do without. All the employees were regarded as family, and the whole main building called Moby Dick, where the party was held, was protruding with people from all sixteen divisions of the company.

Most of the people present were drunk by now. Blenheim, Jozu and Rakuyo were singing “All I Want for Christmas” in some kind of tearjerker style, while others danced around and, of course, drank until they were blue in the face. There was no shortage of alcohol and enough food to last a lifetime.

Marco smiled as he watched his co-workers partying like it was their last day on earth. This was not his first office Christmas party, and would definitely not be his last.

Somehow, the glass in his hand was never empty, and Marco found he was pleasantly buzzed.

As the party grew wilder by the minute, Marco looked around the room to find the latest acquisition of their corporation. Ace was one of the sixteen executive officers and oversaw the second division, after a reconstitution of the company proved they needed to divide up the first division, of which Marco was the executive officer.

Marco had never doubted Ace’s ability to lead part of the company, despite his young age. Haruta was about the same age as Ace was and was an excellent executive officer.

Ace had needed some time to warm up to everyone, however. When he arrived, he had been cold and business like, determined to take Edward Newgate’s place as CEO at the head of the company. However, over time, Ace had realised they were like a family at this company, and the hard exterior he put up had slowly faded.

Marco had worked closely with Ace from the start, as Ace had taken over part of his division, settling him into the function. Once the wall Ace had put up broke away and he started trusting Marco and the others, he had become rather pleasant company, something Marco hadn’t expected from him at first.

At some point, however, Marco’s fondness of his co-worker had changed into something else.

Marco watched Ace dance uncoordinatedly to the music, uncaring whether he danced with someone or by himself. Marco couldn’t help but smile fondly. In the few months Ace had worked here, he had undergone a complete transformation, and Marco was happy he finally accepted the company as his family.

“Marco!” Ace suddenly exclaimed loudly, as if he only noticed him now, and joined Marco where he was standing in the doorway. Ace’s cheeks were flushed from the alcohol, and he didn’t walk in a completely straight line.

Marco smiled and placed his hand on Ace’s back, both a friendly gesture and an attempt to keep Ace from standing up. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“I am! This party is so great, and everyone is so nice. Just like you, Marco, you’re so nice!’ Ace chattered and grinned at him. “You helped me even when I was being a brat. I never thanked you properly for that.” He bowed, not realising he was standing too close to Marco to do that properly, and hit his head against Marco’s shoulder. “Sorry!” He rubbed his head, but still grinned.

Marco smiled again. “I think you’ve had enough.”

“But it’s so good! The food and the drink… And everyone is _so_ nice!”

Marco shook his head as Ace babbled on, obviously intoxicated. He looked adorable with his flushed cheeks and excited attitude.

“My, Marco, aren’t you two standing underneath some mistletoe?” Izo’s voice suddenly sounded.

Marco’s eyebrow twitched. Somehow, Izo had found out about his feelings for Ace – though, the fact that he had wasn’t that much of a surprise per se, as Izo always knew everyone’s deepest darkest secret. Clearly, he was trying to help Marco in his own way, though Marco preferred he would stay out of it.

He looked up to see if there was in fact mistletoe above his head, but while there was indeed some kind of plant, he doubted it was mistletoe. “I don’t think it i–”

Before he could finish his sentence, however, Ace had grabbed the back of his neck and smashed their lips together.

As Marco’s brain tried to make sense of what was happening, he vaguely caught Thatch’s words.

“Oi, Izo, have you seen that bundle of parsley that was on the chicken I made? I can’t seem to– Oh.”

Finally, Marco’s brain caught up with the current events and he pushed Ace away, whipping around to the snickering Thatch and Izo. “Parsley, really?” he hissed.

Izo shrugged. “It did the job, didn’t it?”

“He’s too drunk to notice the difference,” Marco said in a soft voice.

Ace was currently leaning heavily on him, his face buried in the crook of Marco’s neck.

“Whatever, he kissed you,” Izo said smugly and hastily mingled with the rest of the company to avoid Marco’s wrath.

Thatch grabbed the parsley that was hanging from the doorpost and grinned at Marco before disappearing as well.

Ace still hadn’t let go of Marco.

“Ace?” Marco asked softly, and a shiver went down his spine when Ace hummed to indicate that he was listening. “Are you tired?”

“Little bit,” Ace muttered.

“I’ll need you to give me your car key, though. You’re in no shape to drive.”

Ace hummed again. “Back pocket.”

Marco stood frozen for a second, wondering if he had heard that right, but Ace made no attempt to move away from him, so he didn’t have another choice. Taking a deep breath, he let his hand slip into one of Ace’s back pockets, trying not to think about Ace’s ass. “It’s not here.”

“Other one.”

Marco softly cursed and felt in the other pocket. “Not here either.”

“Maybe it’s my front pocket.”

Fearing for his sanity, Marco pushed Ace away from him, holding him by his upper arms. “Then why don’t _you_ get it?”

Ace yawned and shrugged, feeling in his pocket, before producing a set of keys, which he handed to Marco.

However, just at that moment, Thatch entered the room with new food, and Ace had spurted to him before Marco could even blink his eyes. It would seem that Ace was fully awake again.


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the Marco/Ace week 2017, day 7: Free space
> 
> Mob!AU

“Thank you for your patronage, sir,” the shopkeeper said. He seemed a little nervous, because it wasn’t every day that the sons of Edward Newgate came in. However, the little shop was in Gol’s territory, so they’d have to be fools to do the man or the shop harm. Still, it had happened in the past, and the shopkeepers usually were the victims.

Marco thanked the good man and lifted up the bags, aided by Thatch. Normally, they wouldn’t venture out in Gol’s territory for groceries, but Thatch swore this store’s tomatoes were the juiciest he had ever seen.

“Ehm, sir?” the shopkeeper asked, sounding even more nervous all of the sudden. “It would appear someone is keying your car.”

“What?!” Marco exclaimed, causing the shopkeeper to shriek and hide. He dropped the bags he was holding and stormed outside. “What the _hell_ do you think you’re doing?!” he yelled at the person dragging their key across the paint of his car.

The man turned around. He seemed young, in his early twenties, his freckled face framed with black hair. He was accompanied by a blond man of about the same age, wearing an exasperated expression Marco could relate to.

“Oh?” the black haired man said with an infuriating smirk. “Is this your car? I’m sorry, my hand slipped.” As he said it, he finished the exclamation mark he had been drawing after the word ‘Loser’ he had written, spelled with a ‘z’, which was even more infuriating because Marco refused to drive a car with a misspelled word on it.

Marco’s eye twitched, and he grabbed the man’s hand holding the keys.

“Marco, no!” Thatch dashed from the store, carrying all the bags, and pushed him back. “Don’t you know who that is?”

“Yeah, don’t you know who I am?” the black haired man asked smugly.

“I don’t care if he were the queen of England!” Marco snapped. “Nobody touches my car!”

“That’s Ace Gol,” Thatch continued.

“So?”

“How many Gols do you know?! That’s Roger’s kid!”

“So?”

Thatch made an annoyed sound. “Do you want to start a turf war?”

“This kid obviously does, who am I to disappoint?” Marco said, venom dripping from his voice.

Ace huffed. “Bring it on, old man.”

Something inside Marco snapped, and he would have pummelled the kid all the way to next Sunday if Thatch hadn’t intervened. On his side, the blond man tried to stop Ace as well.

“Shake it off,” Thatch muttered in Marco’s ear. “There’s a lot at stake here, so keep your cool. He’s just a kid.”

Taking a deep breath, Marco cast one last look at Ace, who looked way too smug. “This isn’t over,” he hissed, getting into the car and slamming the door shut. Thatch hastened to throw himself into the vehicle on the passenger’s side, pushing the bags onto the rear seats.

“Well done,” he said, sounding actually proud, once Marco had driven off. “You do not want to get into a fight with Roger’s kid on their turf.”

“The moment he sets foot on _our_ turf, though, he’s done for,” Marco said through gritted teeth. “No one touches my car!”

Marco drove back more aggressively than usual, and he was glad Thatch decided not to comment on it. At Thatch’s bar, he braked more violently than strictly necessary, before he parked the vehicle. Opening the door, he shot a deadly look at the keyed paint, slamming it shut.

Inside the bar, Izo was sitting on a bar stool, raising an eyebrow when Marco entered fuming. “What happened to you?”

“A brat, that’s what,” Marco spat, sitting down next to him as Thatch carried in the groceries and took his position behind the bar.

“For some reason, that Gol kid decided it would be fun to key Marco’s car,” Thatch explained.

“Gol kid?” Izo asked.

“Yeah, Roger’s son, Ace. He’s a real peace of work.” Thatch shook his head as he unpacked the groceries.

“With a lot of balls,” Izo commented. “Did he even know whose car it was?”

“I’m pretty sure that he did. He was definitely trying to provoke Marco, and he didn’t seem surprised when we mentioned a turf war.” Thatch placed a cup of tea in front of Marco. “Here, camomile. It’ll help you calm down.”

“I don’t want camomile tea,” Marco muttered, but still took a sip, burning his tongue.

It took a lot of camomile tea and soothing words from Thatch and Izo to calm him down, but in the end, they managed. However, just when they did, the door of the bar opened which, considering they weren’t open yet, surprised them all. Especially when Marco recognised the blond man he had seen with Ace.

“I would quickly turn around and run away,” he spat at the man, who held up his hands defensively.

“I come in peace,” he said and reached into his coat. When he saw them all jump, looking at him suspiciously and ready to pounce, he paused. “I’m only getting a peace offer.”

“Slowly,” Marco growled.

Doing as he was told, the blond man produced a white envelope, which he handed to Marco.

“What’s this?” Marco asked suspiciously.

“Like I said,” the man said, “a peace offering.”

Wearily, Marco opened the envelope and was surprised to find that it was full of cash. “You’re giving me your money?”

“It’s to fix your car paint,” the blond man said. “And it’s not from me, it’s from Rouge.”

“Roger’s wife?” Thatch asked, surprised. “Isn’t she supposed to be even more ruthless than Roger?”

“She’s also more level headed,” the blond man said. “I take it we’re even now?”

Marco was suddenly aware that everyone in the room stared at him, and he sighed deeply. “Yes, we’re good. Who are you anyway, that you’re delivering messages from Rouge?”

“My name is Sabo,” Sabo said. “I’m, what they call, Ace’s-”

“Babysitter?” Marco finished his sentence.

Sabo let out a laugh. “Sometimes it feels like that, yes. But officially, I’m his bodyguard.”

“You’ve got to step up your game then. Today, he almost had no body to guard anymore,” Thatch pointed out.

Sabo sighed. “I know. He’s a handful. I tried to stop him, really, but for some reason, he’s convinced that he needs to start a war between our families to prove himself, or something. He has this weird obsession with you ever since it was on the news you took out that man who tried to kill your father singlehandedly.”

“Obsession? With me?” Marco asked, confused.

Sabo shrugged. “I don’t know why.”

“Sabo, you traitor!”

The door of the bar slammed open again, revealing a furious Ace. “How dare you fraternise with the enemy!”

“I’m not fraternising, and they’re not the enemy,” Sabo said, sighing. “At least not anymore, because your mom saved the day.”

Ace seemed to deflate a little when he heard his mother was involved. “Oh... Well, this still isn’t over!” He pointed accusingly at Marco.

“I believe that’s what I said,” Marco said, dangerously calm. “Careful, brat, you’re on our turf now.”

“Who are you calling a brat, old man?!” Ace snapped back.

“Children, please,” Izo intervened before Marco could shoot another insult back. “We have buried the hatchet, shall we leave it at that? One threat of war per day is sufficient, I’d say.”

“Yeah, well, you’d better not show your ugly mug in our part of town again,” Ace snapped at Marco. “Or I’ll do much worse than keying your car. Come on, Sabo.”

Sabo cast a helpless look over his shoulder before following Ace out.

“Well,” Izo said after they had left, “isn’t that interesting.”

“What is?” Marco asked, confused.

“Oh, come on, Marco! If you had pigtails, he would be pulling them!” When Marco stared at him incomprehensively, he sighed. “Didn’t Sabo say he was obsessed with you? He’s trying to get your attention!” He seemed to consider something, before adding, “In a very unhealthy way, that is.”

* * *

“I can’t believe you tattled to my mom!” Ace scolded Sabo once they were out of earshot of the bar.

Sabo shrugged. “She’s the one who hired me to prevent you from doing stupid things. I don’t tell her everything, mind you, but this was particularly stupid. I mean, what were you thinking, picking a fight with Phoenix Marco!”

Ace huffed. “He had it coming, with that ugly mug of his. My hands are itching to make those blue eyes of him black. Those impossibly blue eyes...” He turned around when he noticed that Sabo had come to a halt. “What?”

“Why are you talking about his eyes?” Sabo asked carefully.

Ace rolled his eyes. “Duh, because I’m going to make black, before kicking his ass. That incredibly tight ass... What?!”

“You don’t,” Sabo started slowly and cautiously, “ _like_ him, do you?”

Ace huffed again. “Who’d like him? With his face. And his smile. And his-”

“Never mind, I don’t wanna know,” Sabo interrupted him. “Forget I asked.”

* * *

It was late when Ace snuck through the quiet neighbourhood, and no one else was about. While this didn’t look like the street where one of Edward Newgate’s son would live, Ace knew better than to judge a book by its cover. He knew exactly where he was going.

The ground floor of Marco’s house was dark, but at the first one, lights were on behind a window. In front of the house, a conveniently placed tree was standing, and Ace started to climb it. At the height of the window, he crawled onto a branch to see what was happening inside. And almost lost his balance.

The curtains were open, revealing the room behind in which Marco was standing, undressing. He had just opened the buttons of the purple dress shirt he had been wearing today – which complemented his eyes, Ace thought – and was currently taking it off.

Ace hadn’t come here to ogle Marco, of course – he had come to study his routine so he could better extract his plan – but right now, his eyes were glued to that amazing toned body, slowly being revealed. Marco couldn’t see him, as it was dark outside.

When Marco reached down to open his pants, Ace let out an involuntary squeak and moved ever so slightly. The tree, however, was determined to betray him and creaked dangerously, drawing Marco’s attention.

Frowning, he walked to the window, pants still open, and opened it as he looked outside. Ace cursed under his breath and scrambled down the tree.

“Who’s there?” he heard Marco call after him, but he wasn’t about to stop, running as fast as he could. He could get a head start while Marco had to run downstairs.

Or so he thought.

The lunatic actually jumped from the window of the first floor and started to pursue him, seemingly uncaring he was half naked.

That tiny fact made Ace look over his shoulder, causing him to trip over his own feet. He staggered, giving Marco the opportunity to catch up with him. Ace felt his collar being grabbed, and before he knew it he was tackled, landing face first on the pavement.

“Get off of me, you idiot!” he exclaimed, trashing about when Marco didn’t move instantly.

“Ace?” Marco sounded confused, moving off him. “What the hell are you doing here? Why were you peeping?”

“I wasn’t peeping,” Ace spat.

“Well, you were in a tree in front of my house, so you probably didn’t get lost ending up there,” Marco said, crossing his arms before his chest, but not before Ace noticed his nipples were hard from the cold.

Realising he was staring, Ace huffed and looked away, hoping his tinted cheeks weren’t too noticeable in the street light. “Obviously, I was studying your routine so I could pound on you when you least expected it.”

“Obviously,” Marco agreed. “I can’t say I was expecting to find you in my tree, though.”

“That was the point! And put a shirt on! There live children here!”

“You think they’ll be watching outside in the middle of the night?” Marco asked, an eyebrow raised. “Besides, aren’t you known for not wearing a shirt. I mean, I’m surprised you’re wearing one right now.”

“That’s because I had to be inconspicuous!” Ace snapped. “Plus, I’m hot, so I’m allowed.”

“That’s true.”

“What?” Ace asked, confused.

“You said you’re hot, and I’m confirming that,” Marco explained, leaving Ace flabbergasted.

“Wha-?” Ace started. “What the hell are you saying?!”

Marco raised an eyebrow. “Why are you so upset when I’m agreeing with you?”

“S-shut up!”

Suddenly, Marco grabbed Ace’s hand and pulled it forward, palm up. “That’s a nasty cut,” he said, studying it. “Sorry about tackling you. I wouldn’t have if I’d known it was you. Come on.” Without further explanation, he started dragging Ace back towards his house.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Ace sputtered, too confused to put up a real fight.

“Someone should take a look at that cut and make sure it’s not infected.”

“I-“ Ace started, but he couldn’t find the words to finish that sentence, nor did he really want to. Secretly, he was very excited to see Marco’s house from the inside.

“It’s a good thing I caught you when my pants were still on,” Marco said with a grin. “A few seconds later and I would have been outside in my bare ass, without a key.”

Ace tried not to picture that, failing miserably, and he bit his lip. Fortunately, Marco was busy opening the door and didn’t see it.

“Go wash your hand in the kitchen,” Marco said, “then I’ll get the first aid kit.”

Ace wasn’t even sure why he did what he was told. It wasn’t Marco had sounded commanding; if that had been the case, Ace would have been more inclined to punch him in the face more than anything else. He had always had a problem with authority.

Maybe it was just because Marco was... nice. Not just nice looking, but actually being nice, without a reason to be. Ace had been nothing but unpleasant to him, after all. Yet Marco treated him more like an annoying little brother than an enemy.

As he was drying his hand, careful not to rub at the bloody wound, Marco entered the kitchen with a box, wearing, must to Ace’s displeasure, a shirt. From the first aid kit, Marco retrieved some bandages. “Hold up your hand,” he said, and started to wrap the white bandages around Ace’s hand. His hands were surprisingly soft.

Ace tried to look anywhere but into those blue, blue eyes. Coughing, he pulled his hand back the moment Marco was done. “Why are you nice to me?” he asked, studying the neatly looking bandages.

“Because I hurt you,” Marco simply said.

But Ace shook his head. “I mean, you did, but I’d have done the same if I found someone peep- in front of my window. There’s something else.”

Marco shrugged. “I guess I find you... intriguing. And I don’t think you’re nearly as unpleasant as you pretend to be.”

“Please, I’m super unpleasant,” Ace said with a snort.

Marco smirked. “It sounds like you’re proud of that. And I’m sure you want people to think that you are. But the thing I find most intriguing is that you are obsessed with me.”

“What?!” Ace all but shrieked. He cleared his throat, embarrassed. “I mean, what? You’re pretty arrogant to think that!”

“Sabo said so himself.”

“That traitor,” Ace hissed under his breath, and then looked Marco straight in the eye. “I’m not obsessed,” he said firmly, but when those blue eyes looked back at him through half lidded eyes, he melted inside. “I just...” he stammered. “I don’t know, the way you protected your dad was pretty cool... And the way you’re all for family, and that everyone can become part of the family... and...” he started mumbling. “You’re kind of cute.”

“What was that?” Marco asked, but the smirk on his face told Ace enough.

“You heard me,” he snapped.

“I did. You think I’m cute. And we already established that I think you’re hot, so that’s a good start. However,” Marco continued, “that doesn’t changed the fact that you keyed my car.”

“I thought my mom paid you for the repairs.”

“She did, but _you_ never apologised.”

Ace took a deep breath and bowed down. “I’m sorry I keyed your car.”

Marco seemed taken aback, clearing his throat. “Well, that was more than I expected, so consider yourself forgiven. Though,” he added with a telling smirk, “if you still feel you need to be punished, I do have a few ideas.”


End file.
